


Amongst Fangs

by ciderpuppy



Category: Kill la Kill
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Blood and Gore, F/F, Illness, Physical Abuse, Psychological Torture, Suicidal Thoughts, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-03-29 23:47:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 49,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3915202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ciderpuppy/pseuds/ciderpuppy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matoi Ryuko, a daughter of the moon, a werewolf. Kiryuin Satsuki, turned by her mother into a being with a thirst for blood, a vampire. Ryuko will lose control of the wolf if she fails to have blood every so often, so she has chosen a target to satisfy her bloody appetite, Satsuki. For vampire blood can keep a wolf tamed for months. But Ryuko has no idea what lies behind the Kiryuin mansion's doors, for once she enters, she may not be able to leave unscathed. Or alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Are...we done...now, Mama?" asked an exhausted female's voice. The voice coughed a few times and it sounded like liquid splattered to the floor when she did.

'Where am I? What happened?...'

"Almost, my dearest Nui," a woman's voice replied. It was low, but was attractive and charismatic. The heels of her shoes clacked the tiles as the sounds moved across the room. "Just two more, and then we'll be done."

'Now, I remember. Mother did this to me. But...who am I?....I am...Satsuki Kiryuin, daughter of Ragyo Kiryuin.' She needed to remind herself whenever she woke up like this.

Satsuki was finally able to force her eyelids open despite her sleepy state. She was incapable of moving and was naked. Wrists and ankles shackled and chained. She was in a tall, cylinder, glass container, and was hanging by her wrists like a piece of meat. Her entire body was submerged in water. And several tubes punctured multiple areas of her skin and ran upward and out of her container. Over her mouth and nose was a mask for breathing, but behind the mask was a small tube leading into her mouth and down her throat. This tube was almost constantly making her gag, and it sometimes carried a neon blue liquid that filled her stomach and left her wanting to vomit.

"May I...please have...a little break...before we do more, Mama?" Nui pleaded tiredly.

Ragyo chuckled and held up a syringe full of a bright green liquid to the light so she could be certain of the measurements. "Why stop when we're almost done?"

Satsuki couldn't understand them while submerged in the water, the conversations outside of it merely sounded like mumbling. Her vision was currently no better, and what little she did see was very blurry. But the sound that she recognized even while in water was screaming, grunts of pain, and pleading from her sister, Harime Nui.

"Very interesting," Ragyo said with a raised brow as she wrote something down on her clipboard. She looked up and quietly observed Nui cringing and pleading to her. The sight didn't at all faze her in the slightest. She even had a smug grin as she wrote some more things down.

'One day, mother, one day...'

Satsuki grazed her long sharp canines with her tongue. A "gift" from her mother, or so Ragyo called it. It was no gift, her mother made her like this so that she could have another guinea pig to experiment on other than Nui. Satsuki clenched her teeth angrily. Her mother was an awful person as far as she could remember, but finding out that she experimented and tortured Nui since she was born were the sprinkles on this sick and twisted cake. And now, Satsuki is a part of Ragyo's revolting little games.

-

Though the stars were currently hidden, the moon was radiantly showing off its light through the dense clouds as if trying to make up for its hidden companions' absence. The air was freezing and the people of the city were bundled up in warm coats, hats, and gloves. Walking down a busy city street was Matoi Ryuko, hands in her jacket pockets, a red scarf wrapped snuggly around her neck, and a goal in mind. To feed and to appease a hunger that must be fulfilled in secret.

Her stomach grumbled angrily with impatience as she tightened her fists to try to remain in control.

'Almost there, just a little bit farther,' she tried to reassure herself.

Walking with purpose, she made her way down the street, dodging people left and right in the process as she headed for her destination. The people's scents made her mouth water as they walked passed her, she wanted so desperately quench her thirst for blood.

'Keep calm, keep calm, keep calm,' she repeated over and over in her head like a broken record. She picked up her pace and turned her walking into a jog, she needed to get away from so many people when she was this hungry. Their enticing scents were making her lowly growl with hunger. She ended up sprinting down the sidewalk, she took a turn in an empty alley before slowly coming to a stop and leaning against the wall of a tall building.

'Dang, that was close,' she thought. 'Really need to not wait so long. Wish I could have eaten those thugs yesterday, too many people around though.' Oh,' Ryuko perked up a bit. She noticed that it had begun to lightly snow. Looking up at the light grey sky clouds above, she smiled weakly when a snowflake landed on her nose. But the small grin vanished after only a moment.

'Sorry, dad...' The snow reminded her of her father, both good and bad memories flooded her head. But almost as quickly as they appeared, she forced them away and shook her head with annoyance. 'You've got a date...with dinner, Ryuko, focus...Crap, I'm not gonna make it...'

The hunger in her belly was becoming painful as she began running through the alley. She felt a sudden pain in her spine and fell to her knees, cringing, grunting, and growling as she dug her fingernails into her palms. Her vision was becoming beyond that of a human's, hearing becoming fine and acute, her sense of smell forming into that of a wolf's.

She was involuntarily turning, but this wasn't a safe place to become a beast. Far too many eyes that'd spot her. She'd quickly be killed, or worse, captured by those that would make money off of her on the black market.

'Damnit, damnit, damnit,' she repeated over and over again in her head.

Her phone began to vibrant in her jacket pocket. Despite her current predicament, she took it from her pocket, a message from Mankanshoku Mako. Opening it, it read:

"Hiii, Ryuko-chaan~!!! It's me, Mamo! I mean (Mako)!! My dad was working on a patient this morning while you were gone and away and I got some blood in a tube (tube); So I put it in your pocket in case you turned all scary and AAWOOOOO in public because I know you don't want that! Hurry home! Mom's making croquettes!!"

Ryuko smirked and reached in her back pockets of her jeans. Sure enough, there was a vial of blood in the right one.

"How'd she do that without me noticing?"

She quickly opened it and drank its contents. She savored the taste that it left in her mouth after she swallowed. Immediately, the pain was softening up, and the hunger slightly settling.

"Thanks, Mako," she said aloud before texting the same words to Mako. "I owe you one. I'll be home later tonight, go ahead and eat without me," she added to the text.

Standing to her feet, she put her phone back in her pocket and began walking once more, licking her lip to get any blood that didn't make it in her mouth. She has satisfied the wolf for now, but that was nowhere near enough blood to keep it tamed for long. Which is where her destination came in. She had picked herself a target a week ago and had been watching from a distance. But it was finally time for her to feast.

Her destination, the Kiryuin mansion.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hi, and thank you for continuing to read! This chapter was done rather quickly, sooo keep that in mind if you please ^^; Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Ragyo chuckled. "Good girl, my Satsuki. Your organs seem to respond different to c57 than Nui's do."

Satsuki's glass cylinder prison was currently open and all the water had been drained. Her eyes were shut, she didn't want to look at the vile woman that stood before her. Her senses were numb and her head sharply ached as if a knife was freely flailing and slicing away at her brain. She was having trouble piecing together what was being spoken to her. Not that she wanted to hear such words from such a despicable person.

"Nui, you said it was your lungs that the last vial affected?" Ragyo asked, still writing down medical and chemical gibberish down on her clipboard.

Nui didn't answer right away, it took her a moment to find the strength to reply with "Y-yes...Ragyo-sama...My lungs hurt..." She coughed up blood after speaking and it spewed to the floor before she quivered in a quiet agony. She too was naked and in the same situation as her sister. Except Nui's body was covered in blood, deep cuts, and bruises. She had a large sickly purple, fist-sized bruise on her belly, neck, and forehead. Because of Ragyo's injections into Nui's abdomen, just beneath the top layer of skin was strangely purple and grey, while the veins of her belly were clearly visible and black. She was having trouble breathing, it seemed to hurt to do so. She quietly whimpered with every breath she took and cringed in her chains.

"Alright," Ragyo wrote one last thing down in her notes before setting it down on the table. "You both are free to go. I'll be out for the night with Hououmaru, we'll be back in the morning." She headed over to the wall where three buttons sat on the wall. Pressing two of them, machinery that held the chains in place above both containers began to loosen, allowing the girls' wrists to slip through. Both women fell to their knees, lightly splashing into any blood that lie in front of their containers. But the impact to the floor jarred Nui's badly damaged body, she cried out as she curled up whimpering on her side.

Still on her knees, Satsuki reluctantly opened her eyes looked up and saw her mother in a no longer white lab coat, towering above her and looking down at her with that smug grin that Satsuki has grown to despise. Ragyo's lab coat was splashed with blood, as well as a small amount of vomit that Nui failed to contain after the seventh experiment of the day.

Ragyo crouched down in front of her daughter and ever so gently grasped Satsuki's chin in her hand and had a gentle smile, but it was this woman's eyes that were like a tempting poison. Not a single thing about them were kind, warm, or welcoming. "Behave, Satsuki," Ragyo cooed after getting uncomfortably close to Satsuki's face.

"Yes, Mother," Satsuki replied still sounding confident and proud as always despite her predicament. She hated her mother's eyes, but she looked into them like she had been taught from a young age. Have no fear when you speak, project with confidence and straight-on eye contact.

Ragyo chuckled before standing to her feet and proudly exiting the room. Satsuki saw Nui in the corner of her eye, struggling to pick herself up off the messy floor. Turning to look at her sister, she only felt pity for her. Satsuki wasn't particularly fond of Nui, the usually smiling and cheery young lady was quite literally a sociopath thanks to their mother. But Satsuki knew that her sister didn't deserve such a magnitude of cruelty.

Nui finally stood only to cough and vomit a strange black ooze before falling to her knees again. Satsuki's legs ached and protested as she slowly rose to her feet. She saw two blue towels sitting nicely folded upon one of the tables. Heading over to them, she picked them both up and walked over to her sister. Her bare feet stepped in the partially dried but still sticky mess that was splashed about the floor around Nui. Satsuki held out her hand for Nui to take, although she wasn't expecting her to actually take it. As she thought, Nui didn't even look up at her. She just stared blankly at the ground.

"Nui," Satsuki spoke gently. No response. Satsuki softly sighed before unfolding one of the towels and placed it over Nui's back.

Satsuki wrapped herself in a towel and began to head for the exit.

"Mama...said she'd stop...She said she'd stop a year ago, Satsu..." Nui murmured still looking at the ground. Satsuki stopped and turned to face her sister while Nui fully covered herself with the blue towel and staggered to her feet. The pain in her lungs and belly were too much for any normal human and would cause them to faint. Her lungs felt like they were filled to the top with thousands of loose needles, and her belly felt like a hammer was repeatedly smashing her organs.

But Nui was special, Ragyo's little creation. She handled pain differently. Nui smirked at her own agony and began to softly chuckle. "It hurts so badly, Satsu," Nui smiled with tears fleeing her eyes. "It's almost funny, really..."

"You've gone through hell, Nui," Satsuki replied. "A different kind than I have. But soon, it will end. There will be a day when Ragyo Kiryuin will not hurt a single soul anymore." Satsuki began heading for the door once again.

"Satsu..." Nui said. Her older sister stopped and looked at her again. Satsuki had pity in her eyes, something her mother never gave her. "Be careful..."

Satsuki gave her sister a small bow of her head before continuing forward to the door. She had things to do, the day was coming and she needed to be prepared for it to happen. But she first needed to rest, rest without being monitored with tubes and needles puncturing her skin.

'A shower and a short nap,' she thought while passing through the door that read "HAZARD" in bold on the front. A fleet of stairs leading upwards awaited her outside the door. Taking hold of the rail and ignoring her aching legs, she began her ascent away from the laboratory and was set on getting to her room to wash up and rest. 'A short nap, then phase one while commence.'

-

Sniffing the air, Ryuko stopped at the shiny golden gate that was between her and a feast. "The heck?" She tapped the thick gate with her fingernail. "Is this ish real freakin' gold?! Holy crap, I knew they were rich, but good grief." The gate was very tall and towered above her. It was so tall, that Ryuko's chin was facing straight up to the sky for her to be able to see the top of it.

Looking through the bars, behind them was a big yard with unbelievably perfect grass, flower bushes, and multiple tall trees producing beautiful flowers. She saw two dogs patrolling the front yard. One swift looking doberman pinscher, and one burly rottweiler, both wearing heavily spiked collars.

Ryuko smirked. She knew how to handle dogs, they wouldn't be a problem. She wasn't going to kill them either, they were just doing their job after all. But her first obstacle was the gate, she'd worry about the dogs later. She pulled out four lock picks from a small plastic case from her back pocket and inserted one into the lock of the gate. She softly fiddled with the lock for what felt like an hour, but was really only five long minutes. A very gentle click was hear from within the lock and Ryuko pushed the gate open.

"Freakin' finally!" Just then, the doberman pinscher perked up and began to snarl and charged for Ryuko. The rottweiler quickly became aware of the intruder's presence as well and raced for an attack with teeth bared.   
Ryuko popped her neck from left to right before stepping forward with not a hint of fear on her face. The snarling dogs were dead set on ripping this intruder to shreds, one would think nothing but their master could stop them. Just when the dogs were about to spring at her, Ryuko ferociously growled like a beast of the night. It didn't at all sound human. It startled both canines and they stopped in their tracks.

This gave Ryuko a chance to see that both dogs had name tags. The doberman's tag read "Juniper," while the rottweiler's tag read "Sun."

Both dogs continued to bark, and Sun seemed eager to take a bit at Ryuko's legs despite Ryuko's ability to intimidate. He stepped forward in attack stance and snarled. Ryuko growled a second time, and this time, her eyes began to glow red as she stared into the eyes of the snarling rottweiler. Sun suddenly whined and submissively laid down on his belly. Ryuko's ability had made Sun admit himself inferior to her.

"Good boy, Sun," Ryuko kneeled down and softly petted the dog's head. He lovingly licked Ryuko's arm as she petted him. Ryuko now looked at Juniper and used her intimidation ability on him as well, and sure enough, he too became submissive and puppy-like. He even seemed to want to play. Ryuko chuckled. "Alright, guys, I've got a date. Be good."

She stood up and went for the main door of the huge mansion. She knew just walking in through the front door would just be lead to questions on how she got passed Sun and Juniper, or why she's here so late. But going in through the windows were not an option, they were bolted shut. Sneaking in seemed impossible unless she was a phantom of some kind and could pass through walls. Instead, she has developed a straight forward plan to get passed the butler that was often the one to answer the door. But Ryuko needed to hurry, her hunger was coming back, she needed to eat very soon.

Reaching into a secret pocket on the inside of her jacket, she pulled out a small plastic bag. It contained a light purple powder. Pouring its contents into the palm of her hand and grasping it, she returned the bag to her pocket. Now that she was ready, she took a deep breath and reached up and gave the front door a good knock. No response at first, but Ryuko waited a moment.

The door made a click sound and then it opened, revealing the expected butler. Ryuko didn't waste any time and raised the powder in her hand to her mouth before blowing it in the butler's face. He passed out where he stood and Ryuko caught him in her arms before he hit the floor. Gently lying him to the ground, Ryuko stepped inside and softly closes the door behind her.

'Jeez, dang rich people!' Ryuko thought in amazement when she saw the massive living room and kitchen. Definitely only a place only the high and mighty could even come close to affording. The tiled floor was the cleanest thing she's ever seen in her life, she could see her reflection in it. Everything looked expensive, it didn't even matter what it was.

'For crying out loud, bet these guys use money as toilet paper,' she thought looking up at the massive and heavily detailed chandelier hanging high above her. Ryuko was suddenly distracted by her stomach growling. She put her focus back to looking for Satsuki Kiryuin.

Stepping lightly, she headed for the spiraling staircase. She was thankful that the stairs didn't creak as she made her way to the next floor. There were multiple framed pictures on the walls of a naked woman with multicolored hair. 'Dang, she's kind of hot.' She just assumed it was simply a picture of model and nothing more.

The floor had a what appeared to be a humongous living area with view lovely view of the city. At the side, there was a yet another staircase that Ryuko took upwards. Finally she came across the bedrooms a what she assumed to be bathrooms behind closed doors.

Ryuko smelled the air for Satsuki's scent. Unfortunately for her, she'd never gotten a chance to get her scent. She very quietly tiptoed down the hall, smelling each door handle. When she reached the end of the hallway, the only thing Ryuko could narrow down were four individual scents of females, two of which were older teenagers.

'Crap, which one?' she thought looking back and forth at the two teenagers doors. 'Well, I can't really imagine Satsuki would have all this pink crap on her door,' she told herself after observing lots of pink decorations of hearts, candy, and chibi animals on one of the doors. She chose the other door and took a deep breath as she reached for the door handle gave it a slow twist with the utmost gentleness.

Quietly stepping into the room, Ryuko found what she's been longing for, a vampire. Satsuki Kiryuin, lying asleep in her ridiculously large bed. Her mouth watered from the thought of blood, she quietly walked over to the side of the bed, looking down at currently defenseless meal. But she needed to act quickly, vampires had an impressive sense of smell. Even in their sleep, an unfamiliar scent would usually wake them.

Ryuko suddenly had the wind knocked out of her and she fell to her knees. Satsuki was awake and had delivered a devilishly swift punch to the now cringing Ryuko's abdomen.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Satsuki asked sternly. Reaching beside her bed, she pulled out a sword looking similar to a katana, a sword called Bakuzan.

Ryuko was still attempting to gasp for air and couldn't speak. But she had been caught, there wasn't much to explain. When air finally reached her lungs, she was finally able to speak. "Matoi Ryuko. Would you believe me if I said I lost my way?"

"I'm no fool, Matoi Ryuko, you're clearly here on purpose. Now I'll give you one chance to exit my home unharmed."

"Afraid I've got something to do, Kiryuin," Ryuko looked up at Satsuki with a smirk. "I'm not leaving until I've got what I need."

"And what is that?" Satsuki asked 'How'd she get past the dogs?...Wait, is sh-' Satsuki suddenly felt claws rake her shoulder and the force behind them made her fly into the wall behind her. She looked up and a beast stood before her. A tall and muscular werewolf with black fur, red markings, and impressive claws roared at the vampire.

Ryuko quickly lunged forward and went to crush Satsuki's neck between her jaws, but Satsuki protected herself at the last minute by bashing her fist into the side of Ryuko's face. The bipedal wolf tumbled to the floor and snarled angrily. Standing to her feet, Ryuko let out another loud bellowing roar at her prey. Satsuki stood to her feet and held up her sword at the salivating beast before her. She responded to the roar by baring her sharp vampire fangs and instinctively hissing as a threat.

'Time to eat,' Ryuko thought licking her teeth.

The fight was about to begin.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, chapter 3! Hope you enjoy it despite any errors that you may find that I failed to correct ^^

Jakuzure Nonon groaned as she's was awakened by Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Popping her head out from underneath her covers and using the back of her hand to wipe the drool that leaked from her mouth, she reluctantly grabbed her phone from her bedside table. Upon seeing who was calling her, she groaned again in annoyance and plopped her head back down to her pillow before she covered her head back up with her blankets. She irritatedly answered her phone and was about to give the caller a piece of her mind for calling so late if it wasn't for a good reason.

"What kind of crappy demon has possessed you to call me this late, Monkey Breath? I don't want you calling me during the day, let alone at 2:30 in the dang morning," she sneered into her phone with poison in her tone.

"Good evening to you too, Tiny Troll," Sanegeyama Uzu replied. "I'm sorry, would 2:35 A.M. be a more appropriate time? I can wait to call you then if that'll be better for you," he mocked in a baby voice.

"Hope you liked your face because I'm going to rearrange it next time I see it," Nonon growled.

"Make sure you bring a ladder so you can reach me, you gremlin. Anyway, Gamagoori wanted me to remind you that we've got to go meet Satsuki-sama in an hour."

"Yeah, I know, you northern Kanto monkey. I've got my alarm set for twenty minutes from now and you're wasting my sleep time on this conversation. Goodnight and I'm hanging up now."

"Awww, you told me goodni-" Nonon hung up her phone and snuggled into her pillow before drifting into sleep a couple minutes later.

-

The fight had been taken outside in the neighborhood, and Satsuki has hidden behind a large tree of a park to observe the bleeding wound on her abdomen. She was thankful the claw marks weren't as deep as she had expected, she'd manage. She's dealed with worse from her mother.

Ryuko growled and snarled a few feet away while flipping over a car in her hunger driven hunt for her prey. "Bo fal kebbo zan vempiir," Ryuko growled in the language of the werewolf called Wolven. In Wolven, this phrase translated to "Where are you, vile vampire?" Ryuko can only understand and fluently speak Wolven when in wolf form.

Satsuki was not at her best, every muscle she told to move protested back at her with sharp stabs of pain, her heart was beating irregularly and she could feel her heartbeat pounding in her neck. Her joints burned every time they were used, even her hands slightly shook as she grasped Bakuzan firmly. Ragyo's tests on her could cost Satsuki her life, but Satsuki didn't think about her fate. She simply took a quiet but deep breath and started to mentally blocking the pain and strictly only focused on beating Matoi Ryuko.

"Yan ahk suunka duuzdruha vempiir," Ryuko growled a deep chuckle. 'I can taste your scent, vampire.'

Ryuko crept forward, drool falling from her hungry mouth. She had found where Satsuki was hiding. The only thing in her way was the tree that the vampire was hidden behind.

"Yanva wek valkuubre ahk slifgan tiagkal." 'I'm going to rip out your lungs first.'

Satsuki turned around and swiftly swung Bakuzan at Ryuko who had just barely avoided its blade by leaping backwards. "I do not speak your current tongue, Matoi Ryuko," Satsuki glared with Bakuzan pointed at the werewolf who still bared her teeth a few feet away. "But if you understand mine, know that I am Kiryuin Satsuki, and you have made a grave mistake in attempting to make me your prey."

Ryuko bellowed a roared that Satsuki could feel in her chest before she bounded forward for an attack. Satsuki was prepared and attacked straight on to strike Ryuko's heart and end the battle quickly. But Ryuko was ready for that attack and had claws already on their way to bash Satsuki's arm midway and prevent the sword from reaching its mark.

It was a successful strike and Ryuko's claws tore through the flesh and raked the vampire's arm. Such a powerful impact from the beast had jarred the bones of her arm and Satsuki ended up loosing her grip of Bakuzan, dropping it to the ground.

Now with Satsuki without a weapon at hand, Ryuko quickly went to snap the vampire's spine with her teeth. Bam! The side of the werewolf's mouth was suddenly bashed by Satsuki's powerful fist. Blood and a tooth flew out of Ryuko's snarling mouth as she tried to recover from her discombobulation. But she couldn't recover quick enough. The next thing she felt a sturdy and powerful kick to her abdomen. There was snap sound followed by a high pitched, agonized roar and a word of Wolven profanity.

"Kaineh..." Ryuko lowly growled. She put aside her pain for a moment and swung her claws once more despite the intense stabbing sensation in her abdomen. But Satsuki dodged it with ease and gave the wolf yet another kick, this time in the chest.

Ryuko's body flew and slammed through a small tree and she tumbled back into the front yard. Angrily rising to her feet, she looked behind her and noticed Sun and Juniper still patrolling the yard. She let out a growl that turned in a long howl at the starry sky and immediately both dogs' eyes glowed red as the canines ran to the werewolf's side, baring their teeth at Satsuki.

Satsuki walked through the golden gate and was slightly hurt that the dogs she'd had since they were puppies were now against her.

"Heel!" Satsuki's voice boomed to her dogs, but they didn't cease their snarls and stood firmly beside their new alpha.

Ryuko growled a deep chuckle. "Valkuubre se bekteh ahn fleaz." 'Rip and shred flesh.'

Upon speaking said words, Sun and Juniper charged for Satsuki, dead set on carrying out their order, to rip and shred Satsuki to bits. Ryuko joined in and turned it into a three way attack and sprang for her prey with claws and teeth ready to shatter bone.

Satsuki went to swing her sword at Ryuko. She had a clear shot at slicing a fatal wound into the werewolf's neck, but it was like time slowed down when a thought dawned on her. She could use this werewolf. Matoi was after vampire blood, if things went according to plan, there'd be blood to be had. Her mother's to be exact.

At the last moment, Satsuki intentionally missed the werewolf with her sword and only trimmed a bit of fur on her neck. She dodged Ryuko's rather sloppy, hunger driven attack by skillfully jumping over her and then kicking her into the ground. Once the wolf was down and had her belly slammed to the ground with growl of pain, Satsuki used the bottom end of her sword and gave it a swing from left to right, hitting both dogs on the head and they fell unconscious to the ground. She was careful not to add anymore unnecessary force in the hits, they'd awaken only with a bruise.

Satsuki immediately ran back inside the house, waiting for Ryuko to follow. As expected, the wolf angrily got up and sprinted after her. With growls, snarls, and the click-clacking of Ryuko's claws scrapping against the tiled floor coming for her, Satsuki was leading her pursuer to Ragyo's laboratory. Heading down and leaping over each small flight of steps, both were nearly there.

Upon reaching them, Satsuki bursted through the hazard doors with Ryuko following close behind. Running down the long hall, the two finally came to the large room with the glass containers. The scent of chemicals slightly burned Ryuko's nose and she stopped to observe the sight before her.

Blood was splattered on the floor, against the wall were two tables against full of test tubes containing a wide variety of colors, the open glass cylinders in the center of the room, and sitting beside Satsuki's container was a small, metal table with wheels. On top of this little table were many tools, most of which were sharp and still bloody. Nui had passed out only a few steps away from her container and was lying still covered up in her towel on the floor.

Ryuko was dumbfounded. She looked to Satsuki and asked "Xan gro krouga vel." She had asked a slang version of "What happened here?"

Assuming correctly what Ryuko had asked, Satsuki picked up a test tube filled with her own blood from the table and held it up. "Take this and return to your normal self so we can speak."

Ryuko hesitated for a moment, but decided it was worth it for a vampire's blood. She walked over to Satsuki who was still holding Bakuzan up toward her. Satsuki handed the test tube over to Ryuko while looking up at her with cold, but calm eyes. Ryuko sloppily held the tube and heartily drank its contents. Vampire blood had a strange rather sweet and sour taste to it, but Ryuko enjoyed every bit of it and even went as far as trying to fit her tongue into the tube to get every last drop.

Despite her needing to actually devour a vampire to get the correct amount of blood and get its full affect, the wolf was still very much satisfied and her hunger left almost immediately after drinking such a small amount. She held up her part of the deal and slowly began shifting back into her normal form. Transforming always had a bit of a sting to it, especially on the spine and legs. But because of the vampire blood, this was probably the least painful transformations yet for Ryuko.

Upon returning to normal, Ryuko popped her neck from left to right before asking her question a second time. "The heck happened in here? You some kind of wacko mad scientist or something?" Because she was hurt while a wolf, the pain wasn't nearly as bad when in normal form. But it still hurt to speak and mainly breathe, she tried her best to hid the pain of her broken rib that Satsuki's kick had caused.

"My mother is," Satsuki said bluntly.

"That chick over there alright?" Ryuko said turning to look at Nui who was still unconscious on the floor.

"She goes through hell everyday, let her rest," Satsuki ordered firmly. "Now, Matoi Ryuko, you're here for vampire blood. I believe my mother would be a suitable feast for you."

Ryuko scoffed. "You'd offer up your own mother to be gored to death by a werewolf?"

"If she was innocent, I'd never dream of such a thing. But her horrendous deeds have earned her an early death. I'm asking for your assistance in bringing her to it."

"What's she do?" Ryuko asked a raised brow.

"Look around you, Matoi," Satsuki replied with a hint of anger in her tone. "She's a wicked monster. I can't even call her a person, someone so twisted and cruel simply isn't one."

"Why should I go after someone else when I've been waiting all this time to have a bite of you?"

"Because if there's any kindness in your heart, you will change targets and help rid the earth from a horrid person that wishes to enslave it...As well as free me and my sister from our misery."

"Enslave it?"

"Yes, my mother is very intelligent, and all the experiments she performs on us are for her work. She works with what is called life fibers, and they will be humanity's undoing if she is not stopped."

"Life fibers, huh?" Ryuko asked with soft scoff and a grin. "You didn't need to lie about the whole enslaving humanity and all that. I was gonna help you anyway."

"Matoi Ryuko, I swear I on my life that not a single word I said was a lie."

"Alright, alright, Kiryuin," Ryuko replied while scratching her head. "I'm with ya, what do we do first?"

"My colleagues and I will be holding a short meeting in about thirty minutes that you will take part of to get the details of the plan. Try anything stupid and I will remove your ear. Until then, you are going to clean up the mess you've made."

"Ah, fine..." Ryuko groaned.

Ryuko reluctantly obeyed and headed upstairs to begin cleaning up the moved furniture that she or Satsuki had flown into during their fight. She picked up the fallen picture frame containing the image of the naked woman with the multicolored hair and attempted to place it back on the wall.

"This chick's pretty hot, she's got a nice bod. She a model for you guys or something?"

"That's my mother," Satsuki answered bluntly.

Ryuko's eyes widened and immediately froze from the sheer amount of awkwardness that had bashed into her. She was still holding the picture frame up to the wall as she blushed a bit. "O-oh, uh..."

"Make sure it's even before moving onto something else to clean. And make it swift, my colleagues will be here shortly."

-

"STOP DRIVING SO FAST, YOU FREAKING LUNATIC!" Nonon screamed while the surroundings seemed to wiz passed her and the other Elites. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU SO HARD IF I DIE!"

"THE CHANCES OF US CRASHING ARE AT EIGHTY EIGHT PERCENT IF YOU DON'T SLOW DOWN, GAMAGOORI!" Inumuta Houka shouted from the backseat while hastily typing in some calculations on his phone.

"I'LL HAVE YOU ALL KNOW THAT I HAPPEN TO BE DRIVING MUCH SLOWER THAN I USUALLY DO," Gamagoori shouted back while tightly scrunched up closely to the steering wheel of his car.

"ON WHAT PLANET IS THIS DRIVING?!" Sanegeyama Uzu screamed from the seat behind the crazy driver. "I CAN BARELY SEE ANYTHING, WE'RE GOING SO FAST!"

"WE'RE NOT EVEN ON A ROAD, WE'RE IN THE FREAKIN' PARK!" Nonon cried while holding tightly onto her seat belt for dear life.

Bonk!

"YOU JUST HIT A PIGEON, YOU NUTCASE," Houka shouted while being sucked into his seat.

"GET.BACK.ON.THE.ROAD!" Uzu screamed.

"I'M AFRAID I CAN'T SEE VERY WELL WITH PIGEON BLOOD ON THE WINDSHIELD," Gamagoori swerved almost hitting a park statue.

"YOU HAD BETTER HOPE I DIE IN HERE BECAUSE I'M GOING TO RUN YOU OVER WITH YOUR OWN CAR SO MANY TIMES IF I SURVIVE THIS," yelled Nonon.

Despite all the screaming, shouting, and the pigeon blood hindering Gamagoori's view, the four somehow made it back onto a road. And they were only driving on the wrong side of the street for a few seconds, but considering the speed they were going, they still made it rather far going the wrong way. Gamagoori ended swerving and somehow flipping the car over the curb before going the appropriate direction.

"HIT THE BREAK, THERE'S A RED LIGHT!" Houka screamed while pointing ahead.

Gamagoori slammed on the breaks and the car's wheels did as they were told and stopped immediately. But the car itself began to skid forward and the back end of the car flew up in the air and was completely off the ground. The males in the back both let out very long, high-pitched screams until their end of the car finally fell back down to the road when the car had fully stopped just behind the white line. They had successfully not run the red light.

"See? I told you knew what I was doing," Gamagoori boasted.

Nonon swiftly punched him in the arm before uttering "This is way Satsuki-sama has never let you drive a second time."

"Oh dear lord, we're still a few miles away..." groaned Uzu.

"Let's cherish this red light while it lasts," Houka exclaimed.

Nonon chuckled. "Nice screams, by the way, guys."

Uzu scoffed. "Oh, shut up, you pink munchkin."

-

"Sorry about the powder in your face thing," Ryuko apologized to Satsuki's butler, Soroi.

"Oh, it's quite alright. In the end, nobody was hurt," he responded gently with a warm smile. "Satsuki-sama, shall I prepare some tea for your meeting?"

"Yes, please. As long as you're feeling well enough," answered Satsuki.

"The powder simply knocks one out and nothing more, Madame. I'm perfectly well enough to carry out your wish," Soroi replied.

"Thank you, get to it then," Satsuki exclaimed gently.

"Right away, Milady." Soroi then bowed and headed for the kitchen to prepare the tea.

"Can I be done now?" Ryuko groaned while sloppily flopping down on to the couch. "I fixed everything."

"Yes, you're done," Satsuki answered. Walking into the living room, she took a seat on her favorite leather chair. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, she was feeling nauseous, her head was beginning to ache. And a hunger was growing within her as she touched her tongue to her sharp teeth, a hunger that she hated to give in to.

"Are you alright, Milady?" Soroi asked from the kitchen. "Anything I can do for you?"

"Just feeling nauseous, Soroi, I'll be ok," she replied. But then, she felt a bit of liquid falling from her nose. Upon leaning her head forward and pulling a convenient tissue from her pocket, she wiped her nose only to find blood smeared in the tissue. Standing to her feet, she began to head for the bathroom in her room.

"Tell Jakuzure to come and see me when the Elites get here. And show the others to boardroom when they arrive," Satsuki said covering her bleeding nose with the tissue.

"Yes, Milady."

Satsuki headed up both sets of stairs and went to her room, closing and locking the door back. Her headache was quickly growing as she went into her bathroom and opened up the mirror cabinet and got a box of medicine specifically for headaches.

She knew drinking fresh blood would quickly help heal her wounds and stop a lot of the pain that she was in, but she didn't want to give in to her bloodthirsty tongue. After taking the pill for her headache and finally wrapping up her wounds, she took notice of the mirror containing no reflection of her.

For half a moment, she was confused as to why she had no reflection, but then her mother flew into her memory and she grit her teeth. 'In the morning, mother, Bakuzan will taste your blood.'

She perked up a bit when screeching, screaming, and the sound of squealing tires was suddenly heard from outside of the home stole Satsuki away from her thoughts. 'My god, is Gamagoori driving?'

-

"Oh my fuck," Nonon groaned kicking the car door open and flopping face first to the ground. "I'm gonna puke..."

"LAND! OH, BEAUTIFUL LAND! HOW I LOVE YOU BEAUTIFUL, UNMOVING LAND," Uzu cried out as raced out of the car and repeatedly kissed the concrete.

Ira casually stepped out of his car that was parked in front of the Kiryuin mansion's gate. "You three are weaklings," he said placing his hands behind his back after shutting his door.

"Having a sense of speed is weakness now, is it?" Houka staggered out of the vehicle.

"I swear, dude, never again," Uzu stood to his feet and stretched a bit. "I'd much rather have Inumuta's irritatingly safe driving over Daredevil McSmashing Pigeons."

"As long as we leave five hours early so we can get where we're going on time, yes, I'll take Inumuta's snail pace driving over the toad's death wish driving any day," Nonon said picking herself up off the ground and the Elites headed for the mansion's main door.

"I simply would rather be safe than sorry," Houka exclaimed while pushing the gate upon. "Hm, strange, the gate wasn't locked."

"Wonder why..." Uzu tilted his head. While the group walked to the front door, Juniper and Sun were back to normal and excitedly ran over to greet Nonon when they saw her. Jumping about happily and licking her hands, the dogs whined and begged for her to pet them.

"Hi, guys. What have you been up to today, hm?" Nonon asked the dogs while softly petting their heads. Both she and Satsuki raised these dogs when they were puppies and trained them to be the guard dogs that they are today, but when they're not doing their job, they acted like little puppies to their masters.

"I've got to go now," Nonon said to both of them, "you two be good." Catching up to her group who had just gotten to the front door, Gamagoori gave it a couple knocks.

"Coming." After a moment, Soroi opened the door. "Welcome. Please, do come in," he bowed as the Elites stepped inside. "Satsuki-sama will see you shortly, she instructs that you go to board room. And Jakuzure-san, Satsuki wishes to see you."

"Oh? Alright" Nonon replied and began heading up the stairs. But then she spotted Ryuko. "Who's that?"

"Oh, and Satsuki-sama has a guest, but...she seems to have fallen asleep," Soroi exclaimed.

They all turned to look at the couch to find Ryuko sitting up with her head leaned back and slightly drooling as she slept.

"That is Matoi Ryuko," replied Soroi. "It appears that she will be assisting in tomorrow's event."

Nonon scoffed. "I know a delinquent when I see one," then headed all the way up the stairs and to Satsuki's room. Once she got there, she gave it a soft knock. "Satsuki-sama? It's me."

The door opened and there Satsuki stood, gazing down at the much shorter girl. "Nonon, I have a favor to ask."

Nonon's heart skipped a beat on the very rare occasions that Satsuki called her by her first name. "W-whatever you'd like Satsuki-sama," she replied with a hint of nervousness in her tone.

"Come in," Satsuki said firmly. Nonon obeyed without hesitation and followed Satsuki into her room, but her heartbeat began to quicken when Satsuki closed and locked the door. "Is there something you needed?"

Satsuki's stomach was lowly growling and her tongue and throat were becoming very dry and she felt like coughing. Despite how much she hates what she was, she needed to ask. "Will you allow me to drink some of your blood? I'm...starving..." She was ashamed of what she was and hated admitting to it whenever she needed to feed. "I haven't had any in a long time and have been repeatedly putting it off. I need to be well enough for tomorrow."

Nonon froze for a moment. "Y-yeah, that's fine..." she replied anxiously with a now heavily pounding heart.

Satsuki's hunger demanded that she not waste time and she leaned down near Nonon's neck to gently move the shoulder of her shirt out of the way. "Don't worry, I won't make you like me, I couldn't do that to you." Opening her mouth and revealing her fangs, Nonon could feel Satsuki's hot breath on her lower neck and she slightly squirmed a bit.

"Hey, Satsuki?"

"Hm?" she replied with her sharp canines just barely touching Nonon's skin.

"Will it hurt?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this chapter, took a lot of thinking ahead to make sure everything was going to go as planned in the future. My apologies for any mistakes that you may find ^^

"A little bit," Satsuki admitted, remembering the sting of her mother's teeth. "I'll be as gentle as I can." Nonon nodded, queuing for Satsuki to begin. She then felt the sting of Satsuki's teeth slowly sliding into her neck lick a knives through warm butter. It ended up hurting a bit more than she thought it would and a soft whimper escaped her throat as she slightly squirmed in place.

As Nonon's warm blood began to leak out, Satsuki hungrily pressed her lips to Nonon's neck and began to drink. Gently sucking the blood out from the small wounds, Satsuki filled her mouth and gulped. Such a satisfying and rewarding taste. She hated to admit it, but to a vampire, truly nothing could beat the sensational taste of blood on their tongue. Satsuki's favorite thing about it was the soft texture of it, the gentle feeling of it going down her throat was unbeatable.

She filled her entire mouth a second time and gulped, it smoothly and softly ran down her throat and she even slightly moaned. Her headache was quickly vanishing, her tongue and throat recovering from their dryness. Her wounds from her fight with Ryuko even began to quickly heal and close themselves within seconds. But it was after the third time that she swallowed another mouthful that she knew it was time to let go.

But every atom in her body didn't want such a satisfying moment to end, she ended up taking a fourth gulp. Her instincts told her to either drink until she simply couldn't anymore, or until her prey was dead from blood loss. As if entranced, she unknowingly took another drink.   
Her mouth simply demanded that she kept going. Like a creature dying of dehydration out in a desert, upon finding water, it wants to drink until it bursts.

Satsuki had taken yet another drink when Nonon's weak and tired voice interrupted her absent minded euphoria.

"Satsuki...I'm feeling sleepy...Are you almost done?"

Coming back to reality, Satsuki immediately forced her jaws open and released Nonon's neck. 'Oh no, how much did I drink?' She stuck out her tongue and began to carefully lick the puncture wounds to seal them properly with her special saliva and stop the bleeding.

"Are you alright?" Satsuki asked once she was certain the wounds were closed.

"Yeah..." Nonon replied drowsily. "I'm just feeling a little tired..."

"That's normal, those that are bitten feel drowsy afterwards," Satsuki replied, hoping that Nonon wasn't actually getting sleepy because she drank too much of her blood. "You should rest, I'll hold off on our meeting for a little while. We have time."

"No, no...I'll be alright..."

"Nonsense," Satsuki replied gently, but with a slight hint of firmness in her tone. "You will rest, and that's final."

Despite the slightly more casual setting between the two at the moment, Nonon wasn't going to argue. Satsuki was still her superior. She struggled to keep her eyes open and her legs were becoming wobbly. Her exhausted state left her unable to remain standing and she ended up leaning into Satsuki who caught her with open arms.

Satsuki looked down at the much shorter girl who was failing in her fight to stay awake. She bent down and gently scooped up Nonon's mostly limp body. Walking over to her bed and carefully lying Nonon down on her back, she found that Nonon was now completely asleep.

Satsuki decided to take a seat in one of her cozy chairs, crossing her legs and began to wait quietly for her friend to wake. She'd thank Nonon for her meal when she woke up from her short nap.

Satsuki leaned back and crossed her arms. Now with her belly comfortably full, her mind went into a state of bliss and she too was becoming very sleepy from her meal. Not all vampires needed to sleep, in fact, many didn't need sleep at all. But there was that smaller percentage of them that needed sleep like any other creature, and Satsuki was one of them. She was actually sleep deprived and quite honestly exhausted.

When she was hooked up to Ragyo's machine and fell asleep after her torment, she was plagued with nightmares of her mother's touch and awoke quickly afterwards. Even when she was free to sleep alone in the comfort of her own room, she'd awaken with same such nightmares through the entire night. She was running on about two hours of sleep every day. And on a good night, she'd get closer to three hours of sleep, but this was rare.

But despite her sleep deprivation, she held up her facade that fooled almost everyone. It was quite impressive. It fooled everyone except Nonon who could see through such a well built wall. Even if Satsuki hid her sleep deprived state very well, Nonon just knew that her childhood friend was in desperate need of a good night's sleep. She noticed the slight sour mood that Satsuki has been having.

With sheer willpower, Satsuki pushed her exhaust aside and began to re-analyze her plans on the upcoming event. Her mother's end, and her own new beginning.

-

The other elites and Ryuko had gone to the boardroom as instructed. In the center of the comfortingly dim lighted room was the iconic long, shiny table surrounded by chairs. In the center of the table was a tea tray with a box of tea, a kettle, and multiple cups. The chairs surrounding the table looked quite professional, but were surprisingly comfortable. The walls were painted purple, and like most rooms of the mansion, behind closed curtains was a huge, wall-sized window containing a nice view of the neighborhood.

"So, who are you guys again? Because it sounds like a bunch of servants that do tricks for cake," Ryuko said while slouched back in her chair, legs crossed, and casually picking in her ear with her pinky finger.

Uzu scoffed as he sat with his feet up on the table. "We're the Elite Four, best you remember that!"

"And we do no such tricks for any kind of pastry or dessert!" Ira proclaimed sternly with hands behind his back as he stood at the other end of the table from Ryuko. "We are satsuki-sama's shield!"

Houka quietly sat next to Uzu and Ira as he typed away on his laptop. He was taking no part in the three's little argumentative dispute.

Ryuko scoffed with a raised brow. "If that's what rich people call servants, then yes, you guys are her shield," Ryuko playfully taunted with a sly smirk.

"You've got quite a mouth on you, you little twat!" Uzu retorted with a raised fist. "Who do you think you are, talking to us like that?!"

"I couldn't care less about who I'm talking to, I've never cared much for authority," Ryuko replied casually. "And even if I did, I don't see you guys as authority."

"Why I outta k-"

"Matoi, is there a specific reason why you have a bit of silver color in your eyes?" Houka asked, interrupting Uzu's comeback.

Ryuko didn't respond, the question had caught her off guard. She did indeed have a small amount of silver surrounding her pupils, but she hated when people brought it up. "How about you mind your own business, hm?"

"Are you a werewolf?" Houka bluntly asked his real question.

"Yeah, and what's it to ya? Want to skin me once I'm not needed? Heard people will pay good money for a werewolf pelt?" Ryuko sneered with a vicious glare.

"No, people who prize creatures like yourself are cruel," Houka replied. "I was merely asking out of curiosity, wanted to know if it was really true that werewolves had some silver in their eyes."

Upon hearing that, Ryuko loosened up a bit. "Guess the rumors are true then. My eyes didn't have a trace of silver until I first turned into a wolf about a year ago."

"So you weren't born a werewolf?" Houka asked.

Ryuko grit her teeth, Houka had struck a nerve. But she held back the growl that almost escaped her throat. She honestly didn't know if she was born a werewolf or not, and that question still drilled into her mind quite often.

Those born with the blood of a wolf always have silver in their eyes to some degree at birth, and become able to transform into wolves around the age of ten to twelve. No known record of a blood born werewolf being unable to transform after their twelfth birthday has ever been noted. Humans who are bitten or scratched by a werewolf in wolf form gain the ability to turn into a beast within a full week of the incident at the absolute most. Ryuko has never been attacked, bitten, or scratched by one in her life.

A rather awkward silence fell upon the room after Ryuko refused to answer Houka's question. For a few minutes, it was quiet. Nothing but the sound of Houka typing on his laptop. But this did remind Ryuko that she had texted Mako that she'd be home later in the night. She pulled out her phone from her pocket to text her that this was no longer the case. Going to her messages, she texted Mako:

"Hey, change of plans. I might be home some time tomorrow, let's just say I got a job from some rich people that needs to get done before I can go home. Don't worry, it doesn't involve the police this time, just a little thing I've gotta take care of. And since I know you're going to ask, yes, you can have my dinner from tonight."

Send. Putting her phone back into her pocket, she heard the doorknob click and Satsuki proudly entered the room along with Nonon following close behind. Immediately, the males in the room stood at attention as Satsuki made her way to a chair.

'Yup, definitely servants,' Ryuko thought.

"Thank you for coming," Satsuki pulled out a chair and sat down. "You all may sit."

The Elites took their seats and listened inventively to what was going to be said.

"Now," Satsuki began proudly as always, "tomorrow, there is going to be blood shed. I can only hope that it will only be Ragyo Kiryuin's blood that meets the floor, but understand this. If the plan fails and my mothers is not killed, you all will be in danger. Are you prepared to make targets out of your lives? Will you still take part in what I have planned?"

"Yes!" the Elites proclaimed in unison.

"Matoi?" Satsuki beamed those cold blue eyes at the werewolf. "You did not respond."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ready," Ryuko yawned her words.

"Now then," Satsuki continued on, "the plan is simply this. Tomorrow during the Great Culture and Sport Festival, my blade will meet her neck from behind. Matoi, if my mother proves to be resilient even to this, I ask that you aid me in my fight against her if it comes to that. Elites, I ask the same from you as well."

"Understood!" the Elites answered.

"Got it," Ryuko added.

"You will be wearing your Goku Uniforms, I will don the Kamui Junketsu."

The Elites eyes widened at such a name. Junketsu was a Kamui that was vicious, untamed, practically feral. It was bloodthirsty, dangerous, and locked away for good reason.

"But isn't that thing dangerous, Satsuki-sama?" Nonon asked.

"And would it not seem suspicious of you taking a Kamui at such a time?" asked Houka.

"Yes, Junketsu is powerful. But it has never dealed with a being such as myself, for I am Kiryuin Satsuki, and that Kamui will bend to my will," Satsuki stated proudly.

'Jeez, get off your high horse, lady,' thought Ryuko. 'The hell's a Kamui, anyway?'

"And no, Inumuta," Satsuki faced him, "my mother has already instructed me to wear Junketsu for the festival, as I knew she would. No suspicion if there's already been instruction. Now, anymore questions? Because once we leave this room, we do not speak a single word of what has been discussed."

"What about Harime Nui?" Nonon asked.

Satsuki didn't want to have to fight against Nui, the abused sociopath was Ragyo's puppet that was beat into submission at a young age. She wanted Nui to have the freedom that she'd never known; without Ragyo's hot breath constantly at her neck.

"She will be given an opportunity to pick whose side she will be on if something goes wrong and Ragyo still lives," Satsuki answered. "But she has never defied Ragyo, and I fear that she'll continue to fight at her side. Do no underestimate her if she stands against you. However, if Ragyo is dead with my first attack, she won't be given a choice on whose side she's on. Any more questions?"

Silence.

"Good. Now then, my mother will be here in a few hours," Satsuki stood from her chair. "We will be going to Honnouji Academy, she will be meeting us there when she is ready."

The group stood from their chairs as well and all headed out of the room. Going to the parking garage, it revealed four horrendously expensive, shiny cars. The first car was silver, second was a bright yellow, third a gaudy red, and the forth was a vibrant blue. The first thing Ryuko noticed on the cars were the solid gold rims on all of them and the flawless paint jobs.

Ryuko's jaw dropped. "You've gotta be freakin' kidding me."

"What's the matter, Matoi?" asked Satsuki walking over to her silver car and unlocking it with her keys.

"What the bloody hell makes you guys so damn rich? And how is this amount of shiny legal on the roads? Gonna freakin' blind someone," Ryuko replied still utterly dumbfounded at the Kiryuin's wealth.

"My mother and sister are in the fashion business, their very well known line called "REVOCS" brings us most of our wealth. Now get in the car," a bit of Satsuki's short tempered side showing from being sleep deprived.

"Wait, REVOCS is you guys?" Ryuko asked completely brushing off Satsuki's hint of being annoyed.

"She told you to get in the damn car, stupid delinquent," Nonon hissed pushing herself passed Ryuko.

"Yeah, I heard her, pink midget," Ryuko growled, "but I'm pretty surprised you can hear from all the way down there."

Uzu chuckled as he, Ira, and Houka opened the car doors of the blue car and got in. Because she had a feeling Satsuki wasn't in the mood for bickering, Nonon held in her snide remark for Satsuki's sake and simply swore under her breath as she opened the front door of the silver car and took a seat at the wheel.

Ryuko took pride in her mini victory against the feisty "pink midget" as both she and Satsuki got in the silver car and Nonon started up the engine. Uzu started up the blue car as well before pressing the button on the garage remote. The garage door slowly and smoothly slid open, and the two cars exited, making their way to Honnouji Academy.

-

Taking one last gulp, Ragyo dropped a now lifeless, completely blood drained body to the ground. The disgustingly shriveled up corpse would be an unpleasant sight for the squeamish.

"If you are finished, Milady, we have the Great Culture and Sport Festival to attend to today," Rei stated a few feet away. The two were in an alley near a nightclub. With her seemingly irresistible charisma, Ragyo had skillfully seduced one of the attendees to follow her out to a back alley. Their own fatal mistake.

"Indeed," Ragyo replied with a grin. "Today is going to be a wondrous day, we should get going. We mustn't be late to such an event. It will be truly..." she licked her lips, "amusing."

-

The sun had finally peaked its way up to the horizon, coloring the sky in a soft pink, orange, and what remained of the night's dark blue; announcing the new morning and an new day.

Because the tension of the upcoming event, the ride to Honnouji was a rather quiet one in both cars. Because of Ryuko's heightened hearing, she heard Nonon's heart pounding like mad. She too was feeling a tad bit nervous. She's killed before to keep her wolf at bay, but there seemed to be a lot riding on this. She attempted to swallow her nervousness that was slowly festering inside her. But she had a gut feeling that was eating at her very being, something wasn't going to go as planned.

Driving through Honnouji City and quickly heading up to entrance of the large academy, Nonon hit a button on the side of her seat and the ground in front of them began to move upward. A secret entrance that allowed them to drive underneath the school. Driving under the heightened platform, she pressed the button a second time once the males' car behind them drove in and the platform closed.

They had driven into an empty parking garage. Upon picking a spot, both cars parked and the passengers exited their vehicles.

"Where to, Satsuki-sama?" Nonon asked as her superior began heading for the staircase.

"Go and announce to the students that the Great Culture and Sport Festival will be taking place in two hours," Satsuki ordered, leading her colleagues up the stairs and began going down a long hallway. "Matoi, my Elites will show you where to wait. It is important that you do not be with the other students, you must be separate and out of sight. So you will simply be waiting inside the school, do not step outside unless told otherwise."

"Gotcha," Ryuko replied.

"Yes, Satsuki-sama!" the Elites proclaimed from behind their leader.

The crew split from Satsuki as instructed and went about their orders. Satsuki stepped lightly and went for the upper courtiers at the highest point of the school. When she arrived, she headed for where her dangerous Kamui was being kept. Metal doors and an eye scanner temporarily stood in her way. Allowing the scanner to do its job, the metal door opened up and allowed her access. Walking quickly down the hall, she came to a large room. At the back end and against the wall stood a glass case, and inside that was the white Kamui.

Satsuki stepped forward, knowing what would take place in just a few moments, she stripped off her clothes and walked over to the Kamui behind the glass. Junketsu's eyes slowly opened and gazed at Satsuki with sly, predatory eyes.

Satsuki glared back at the godrobe as she took Bakuzan and slid her finger along the blade. Blood began to drip from her index finger as she opened Junketsu's container. Picking it up, she held over her arm and held her free hand above it.

The very moment the blood dripped from Satsuki's finger down to the Kamui, Junketsu's eyes widened with hunger and it sprang up and began engulfing itself over Satsuki's bare body. Satsuki cringed as it latched to her skin hungry for more of her blood, demanding that it be worn and be given more. It jabbed the three needles of its sleeve into her arm and vigorously began to drink. But Satsuki's blood isn't all Junketsu wanted. It didn't want to be worn by Satsuki, it wanted to wear her.

Satsuki felt Junketsu attempting to get into her mind. The Kamui was sending painful shocks through her skin, it wanted control over her nervous system. Satsuki grit her teeth, the burning pain of the Kamui's life fibers on her bare skin felt like heated steel. It was spreading throughout her entire body and even was burning her organs, Junketsu was eager to make Satsuki its host.

But Satsuki wasn't going to give in, for her willpower was no small wind, but a hurricane. A force to be reckoned with.

"I will not be consumed by clothing, I am Kiryuin Satsuki, I will not be worn!" Satsuki shouted to Junketsu.

Junketsu growled at such a proclamation, but the Kamui felt itself being overwhelmed. Satsuki was winning in their game of tug of war. By sheer willpower, Satsuki forced her way into dominance over her Kamui. Junketsu gave one last growl to show its discontent as it ceased causing Satsuki pain, but quickly became quiet and excepted his role as inferior.   
Satsuki succeeded, and soon, she'd be wearing this when she brought her mother to her death.

-

Nonon and Ryuko were close to the main office at the first floor of the school. There were two people making and receiving calls and writing down information at the front desk. Nonon went up to one of them who appeared to be on hold and waiting quietly.

"Hey, this chick's not in trouble, so don't send her anywhere. Satsuki-sama's orders. Got it?"   
"Understood, Jakuzure-san," replied the woman at the desk with bow of her head.

Nonon lead Ryuko just outside the office to where a few empty chairs were placed. "Alright, stay here, Satsuki will call you if s-"

"Just Satsuki? No "sama" or "Lady" in there this time?" Ryuko asked with a raised brow.

"Crap," Nonon replied when she realized her mistake. "Well, we've known each other for a long time and are good friends, I don't usually add those when we're in a casual setting. Guess I just forgot this time. Anyway, don't come out unless Satsuki calls for you."

"Yeah, I got it. But do I really have to wait here for two hours? I go to school here, I know my way around." Ryuko asked.

"Oh, I didn't know you went here. Yeah, you can walk around a little if you know the way, I guess," Nonon replied. "Just be in this area when Ragyo gets here."

"How will I know when she get's here?"

Nonon scoffed with small smirk. "Believe me, you'll know. She's very...colorful." And with that said, she began walking back down the hallway to return to her group to retrieve their goku uniforms from Shirou Iori.

Ryuko, who had managed to stay put near the office for about an hour only because she fell asleep in the chairs, stretched and stood to her feet before wondering off to the cafeteria out of boredom. It wasn't too far away from the office, just down the middle hallway and through the wooden doors. Everyone was still in class, so the halls and cafeteria were currently empty.

Ryuko aimlessly strolled through the cafeteria, unwillingly taking in the scents of the room. She's never liked the scent of the cafeteria, or the school in general. A room full of teens often smelled of sweat, testosterone, perfume, and shoes to Ryuko. The added smells of the cafeteria's food made it even more strong to an acute nose.

She'd only been going to this academy for about a year, she's also been a werewolf for about a year. And boy, was she was glad that she didn't have her current sense of smell for all her years of school. She might as well have been walking through a sewer during middle school if she had the her wolf's sense of smell back then.

She took a seat at a table and up looked at the clock that ticked quietly on the wall, 10: 46. She quietly sighed. She crossed her arms on the table and laid her head down, 'Just a small nap,' she thought closing her eyes.

"Matoi!"

There was a loud shout and Ryuko's eyelids popped open. "Damnit!" she sprung up and sprinted out of the cafeteria when she looked up at the clock, 11:51. She hurried down the hall when she heard someone cry out name again.

"Matoi!" Ira's voice shouted loudly.

"Why is he calling me? Thought It'd be Kiryuin, not him," Ryuko asked herself.

She raced out the main door to the clearing and found the Elites had been beaten. Ira was keeled down and attempting to get up, but a deep wound through his leg prevented him from doing so. Both Uzu and Nonon were unconscious and had collapsed to the ground. Blood leaked from both of their mouths, and Nonon had a large, bloody gash in her shoulder. Houka had been slammed into the wall and remained there unconscious in the rubble.

In the center of the big school yard was Kiryuin Ragyo standing proudly and donning Junketsu, holding her limp daughter up by the hair like a trophy.

"Foolish daughter, wearing Junketsu to this battle was a big mistake," Ragyo chuckled.

"Hey!" Ryuko shouted. "Put her down!"

"Who are you?" a voice asked from behind Ryuko that made her jump. She spun around to find a girl about her age standing with big smile and wearing a pink dress. Harime Nui. And in her hand was a purple scissor blade with a bit of fresh blood still slowly dripping down it.

"You're quite the cutie, I'd hate to kill such an adorable face!"

"You're that chick I saw in the lab," Ryuko said. "You must be Harime Nui." She remembered what Satsuki had said Nui choosing a side if the plan failed, and judging by the blood on the scissor blade that she wielded and the cuts on Nonon and Ira, Ryuko assumed correctly that she has made her decision.

"Hmm? You seem to know me, afraid I don't know who are, though! Shame, shame!" Nui smiled cheerfully while getting up in Ryuko's face. "Hey, I must say your scent is familiar somehow! Have we met somewhere?"

"No, I don't think so. Now get away from me or I'll rip out a piece of your neck!" Ryuko growled from the scent of blood on Nui's blade . She turned to run and help Satsuki, but the moment she turned around, Nui had somehow gotten in front of her an blocked her path.

"Nope, nope, I'm sure I've smelled that scent before! Help me remember, would you?" Nui asked completely nonchalant about Ryuko's clear threat.

"Look! I've never seen you in my life, and I'm pretty dang sure I'd remember such an irritating voice! Now get the hell out of my way!" Ryuko went to push Nui out of the way, but she awkwardly stumbled. It felt like Ryuko had just tried to push against a wall. Nui didn't budge in the slightest. "The hell?" Even if Nui was strong, there's no way she was heavier than Ryuko. It was like physics didn't apply to Nui. Something wasn't right about this smiling young lady and it was making Ryuko very uncomfortable.

Nui giggled and gently caressed Ryuko's cheek and leaned in very closely to her face. "You have such lovely eyes!"

This sent a shiver down Ryuko's spine and she quickly backed away. "Freaking pervert, get away from me!" Ryuko swung a fist at the jolly girl's face, but to her dismay, Nui simply held up her hand and blocked the punch with ease. Ryuko was dumbfounded and starred with wide eyes.

"Very rude! But seriously, I know your scent from som-" Nui suddenly froze and her smile vanished. "Wait...I remember where I 've smelled your scent before," she said in much more serious tone.

The next thing Ryuko knew, she felt what felt like a spear pierce her chest. She looked down and saw Nui's hand through her flesh. Pulling out what she was after, Nui held in her bloody hand Ryuko's still beating heart. Nui had skillfully pulled it out, crucial veins still remaining intact. Ryuko felt like she was choking, the shock of the attack left it difficult to breathe. Nui gazed at Ryuko's heart, it had red threads entwined into it, life fibers.

"Impossible..." Nui muttered. "This means you're...you're Kiryuin Soichiro's daughter..."

"...Th-the hell's wrong...with m-my heart?...What are...you talking about? My dad's Matoi Isshin..." Ryuko cringed in pain.

"Nui?" Ragyo asked in amazement a few feet away, "Is that..." She forcefully threw Satsuki away and into a wall before walking over to Nui and Ryuko. "Remarkable! You're name is Matoi, isn't it? Looking at your heart, this means you're the daughter I had presumed to be dead!"

Ryuko couldn't find any words, she could hardly breathe. Daughter?

"What are the chances of us meeting again, my failed experiment?"

"F-failed experiment? What are you talking about, you walking disco ball?" Ryuko growled.

"Oh, here you are, alive, with such a lovely silver in your eyes, and a tongue thirsty for blood. But you're no vampire like your sister," she chuckled. "The experiment appears to not have been a failure, it simply had a very much delayed response. How lovely," Ragyo cooed, closely gazing down at Ryuko's heart.

"Tell me, Matoi. My darling Nui here says that when I sent her to retrieve the blades that your father, my husband created, he was already dead. Nui had planned to kill him, but something got there first. Something with claws, something with ferocious teeth. His body was mangled, mutilated, half-eaten in a room painted in his blood."

Ryuko fell to her knees as tears began to fall from her widened eyes and down her face. She looked up in horror at her long lost mother and could find no words.

Ragyo got up close in Ryuko's face, giving her that evil smirk as she gently wiped away the tears that ran down her daughter's cheeks. "My little werewolf, it was you who killed your father, wasn't it?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you humans for waiting patiently, and now you shall be rewarded with chapter 5! Constructive criticism and feedback would be greatly appreciated! My apologies for any errors that you may find that I failed to correct (^w^)/

"I didn't mean to, I swear!" Ryuko cried, tears now streaming down her face. "I swear on my life it was an accident!"

Ragyo chuckled. She gently took Ryuko's heart from Nui's hand and carefully pushed it back into her chest. The gaping wound slowly began to close.

"Fascinating," Ragyo grinned in amazement, "tell me, Matoi. What did his blood taste like, hm?"

"Shut up! I don't know, I can't remember!" Ryuko whimpered, digging her fingernails into her palms. "The hell is wrong with you?!" The last moments of her father were flooding back to her as her stomach began to churn.

Ragyo lifted Ryuko's chin up and practically pierced Ryuko's soul with those poisonous eyes that could make anyone feel weak and inferior.

"Oh, but I believe you do remember. What was it like when you snapped his knees between your teeth? What was it like to see his organs sprawled out in front of you, knowing that it was you who ripped them from his body? The crunch of his ribs? His blood dripping from your teeth?" she taunted.

Ryuko gagged and felt nauseous, "Stop it!" she cried out. "Stop it, stop it, stop it!"

Ragyo leaned down and whispered into her daughter's ear, "His flesh leisurely sliding down your throat."

And with that, Ryuko couldn't contain the contents of her stomach and she vomited mainly fluids to the ground. Her legs and hands trembling, a cold sweat had formed on her skin, and her vision was blurred from her tears.

"Don't worry, my dear," Ragyo gently placed a hand over Ryuko's head and stroked her hair. "I can make all these bad memories go away."

Ryuko gasped when she suddenly felt a stabbing sensation throughout her brain, as if something was harshly constricting it. And that was precisely what was happening, Ragyo had wrapped Ryuko's brain in life fibers. Mind stitching. She quickly erased the true memories that Ryuko had and replaced them with lies.

"Ragyo..." Satsuki groaned a few feet away in a pile of rubble. "Leave her be..."

Ragyo replaced Ryuko's whole life's memories with fake ones, but the two big lies that she placed in her mind was that she lived with Ragyo and Nui her whole life, and that Satsuki was actually the one who murdered their father just hours ago before her rebellion.

"Oh, Satsuki," Ragyo said while strongly wrapping Ryuko's brain up good and tight, "You're going to regret betraying your dear mother. I've always taken you for intelligent, but your actions today have clearly proven me wrong. You're a fool."

With a light tug on a mind stitched life fiber, the irises of Ryuko's eyes suddenly shrank and became much smaller, giving her a rather crazed appearance. She turned to face Satsuki with drool beginning to drip from her mouth.

"And now the innocent are going to pay for your stupidity." Ragyo snapped her fingers and Ryuko began to cringe and transform.

This transformation was a very agonizing one this time around, but a crazed smile had formed upon Ryuko's face despite her cringing from the pain. After a few moments, a bipedal wolf stood at Ragyo and Nui's side.

Now standing a bit taller than her mother, Ryuko lowered her head to Ragyo and submissivly flattened her ears. "Yan dahbengah mehahn." 'I'm starving, mother.'

"I know, my lovely girl, I know," Ragyo replied. "Nolt zalbenruu." 'Be patient,' or 'Have patience.'

Satsuki struggled to keep her head up as she fought against both pain and the rubble that was refusing to let her free. "Y-you...speak Wolven?" she asked weakly.

"Of course, my dear," Ragyo reached up and gently scratched Ryuko's chin which the werewolf seemed to enjoy. "What kind of mother would I be if I couldn't speak my own daughter's language. But enough of that. Ryuko, darling?"

Ryuko looked at her mother with a questioning gaze.

"Slaughter your sister's friends in front of her. The short one first, slowly crush her skull between your jaws."

"Yeah!" Nui added cheerfully with a fist proudly in the air, "Make it all slow and dramatic and stuff!"

Satsuki's eyes widened in fear while Ryuko's lips pulled back into a big, toothy smile and a menacing chuckle escaped her throat. The werewolf's mouth watered as she walked over to Nonon's limp body.

"Nonon..." Satsuki whimpered, still trying to get out of the rubble that surrounded her legs. But with many broken ribs, a sprained ankle, and most of her strength completely drained from previously donning Junketsu, she was at a loss. She couldn't move.

Ryuko leaned down and harshly grasped Nonon by the neck, holding her to her snout and letting the small young lady's scent fill her nostrils. But it was now that Satsuki found that Nonon was awake, her eyelids had opened. She was dazed, but aware that her end was near when she felt the werewolf's hot breath and teeth beginning to engulf her face.

With Nui aggressively eating some popcorn in the background that somehow randomly appeared in her possession as she eagerly watched the scene, Satsuki angrily hit the ground with a weak fist.

"Nonon..." Satsuki cringed, she tried so desperately to loosen herself from the debri to save her friend, but to no avail. "Run, Nonon...That's an order, ru-" she rasped before coughing blood.

A single tear ran down Nonon's cheek. Gazing at her childhood friend, she smiled weakly, "I love you...Satsuki-chan..." she uttered in a very hushed tone. "Sorry it took so long to finally tell you..."

Ragyo raised an eyebrow at said words. Ryuko then shut her mouth and went to pierce Nonon's head with her teeth. Satsuki's mind became clouded with emotion, she hardly anticipated her own next action as she reached her arm out in front of her for a handheld button just barely touching her fingertips, but still ever so slightly out of her grasp.

"AHHH!" Nonon screamed as Ryuko's teeth leisurely slid into her head.

Adrenaline suddenly rushed throughout Satsuki's body and she dug her fingernails into her palm, breaking the skin and drawing blood. Gritting her teeth and pushing her many broken ribs against the rocks, an agonized scream escaped her throat and pierced the air as Satsuki forced her sprained ankle through the rubble and pushed herself forward. Grabbing the control, she quickly pressed her thumb to the red button. There was a loud noise, an explosion. Everything came crashing down and Satsuki felt something heavy crash to her head, then everything went black.

-

Steam filled the entire bathroom as Ragyo softly caressed Satsuki's naked body. Satsuki gasped at Ragyo's pleasuring touch as she lie on her back in the comfortably hot water, her mother's skillfull hands slowly moving about her flawless skin. Ragyo knew Satsuki's body, she knew just where to touch at just the right times and precisely how to do it.

"You will be pure," Ragyo whispered over Satsuki's pleasure cringing body.

Satsuki's eyelids flew open and she quickly sat up from her bed gasping for breath. But her broken ribs didn't at all agree with either of these actions and both were followed by an intense, sharp pain as she cringed in agony. She tried to focus on something else to distract herself from her practically screaming ribs.

'Where am I?'

Still trying to ignore the immense pain, she observed her surroundings with slightly blurred vision. She blinked a few times in an attempt to clear it, but to no avail. She was alone in a hospital room and she looked down to find that she wearing a hospital gown. She previously had many small cuts and bruises covering her body, but being a vampire, these healed quickly and were no longer present.

'What happened? How long have I been here?'

She felt very dizzy and her head was throbbing. She reached up discovered that gauze was wrapped around her head. Pressing against the gauze, she found a lump on the back of her head that ached when touched. She also felt her forehead and found a deep cut and big, purple bruise that had not healed fully.

Lowering her hand back down, she finally noticed that her palm had been bandaged. Satsuki couldn't remember what had happened to it, but her nurse had done this because of the four small wounds that Satsuki had given herself when she dug her fingernails into her palms while trying to reach the self-destruct button to save Nonon.

Annoyed that she could remember so little, she leaned back again. But was quickly reminded how bad of an idea that was when most of your ribs are broken. She clenched her fists tightly and held back a pained groan that she just barely managed to keep contained in her throat.

She cringed when she was also abrasively reminded that she had a sprained ankle when she attempted to move her foot. She tried to relax and focus on remembering why she was here, but her memories were like tiny bits and pieces of a large puzzle.

'Did mother do this to me again?' Satsuki asked herself. 'No...I was...Damnit, my head hurts...' She was having trouble concentrating. She'd begin to form a sentence in her head only to have it stripped away by the thought of something else completely different like what she had eaten for breakfast and dinner. She didn't know it yet, but debri from the explosion landed on her head which had given a concussion.

She sighed in irritation at her clouded mind, she was slowly growing upset. Why was she here and what happened? Not knowing these answers was making her heartbeat quicken and she was growing anxious, but she caught herself before she could panic about her situation.

'Relax, you're ok,' she thought to calm herself down. She took as deep a breath that her pained and broken ribs would allow and exhaled. 'I am Kiryuin Satsuki, daughter of Kiryuin Ragyo,' she began her usual monologue to herself like she did whenever she'd awaken with little memory after one of her mother's experiments on her. 'My Elites are...Sanageyama Uzu, Jakuzure Nonon, Gamagoori Ira, and Inumuta Houka. I...'

"Foolish daughter, wearing Junketsu to this battle was a big mistake," Satsuki suddenly remembered her mother holding her by the hair.

'That's right,' thought Satsuki, 'The rebellion against Ragyo failed...' Her memory was finally starting to piece itself together after forced concentration. 'Matoi was...she's under mother's contro-' Her eyes suddenly widened when she remembered a surprising detail. 'We're...sisters....' She ever so slightly chuckled. 'What are the odds?...'

"I love you..." Nonon's voice suddenly flew into Satsuki's memory, along with her scream as Ryuko's teeth slowly made their way into her head.

"Nonon!" Satsuki cried out immediately throwing off her blankets. She somehow ignored the pain in her ribs as she slid off her bed, but her sprained ankle was not going to tolerate having any weight put on it. Satsuki cringed and grunted in pain as she fell to the floor.

"Satsuki-sama!" Ira ran into the room. He had been standing guard at the entrance of Satsuki's room. He rushed over to his fallen superior and helped her up, allowing her lean on him for support.

"Where's Nonon?" Satsuki asked eagerly staggering to her feet.

Ira frowned and didn't respond.

Satsuki grabbed the collar of Ira's uniform and pulled him down to her level. "Where.is.she, Gamagoori?!"

"She..." Ira couldn't bare to look Satsuki in the eyes. "The last time I saw her was with Harime, Matoi, and your mother...I only managed to save you, Sanageyama, and Inumuta only seconds after the academy self-destructed. Our enemies were confused in the chaos, so they didn't notice me getting away. But Ryuko still had Nonon in her grasp."

"My mother has Nonon..." Satsuki clenched her fists.

"She wouldn't kill her, would she?" Ira asked. "What would that accomplish?"

"Ragyo very well would kill Nonon if she wasn't important to me, but she won't kill her after what Nonon said...She'll keep her alive, that may be worse..."

-

Nonon whimpered and cringed while sprawled out on a metal table in one of Ragyo's many laboratories. She had been stripped of her clothes and lie naked with four small puncture wounds symmetrically dotting her belly. All of the wounds grossly oozed out a bright green liquid that leaked down her sides. Her wrists were restrained above her head and held in place by shackles attached to the table, and her ankles were in the same situation and shackled to the table. A scalpel and a small pair of scissors stuck out of her bloody shoulder that had been deeply damaged during the fight against Nui. It was broken, shattered, immensely dislocated, and a small pool of blood had collected underneath it. It was only connected by meat; not a bone remained intact or where it should be.

"The hell...are you even doing this for?" Nonon asked weakly. "Have you always done this? You seem to know what your doing..." Nonon had to listen carefully for the answer, Ragyo seemed to have done something to damage her hearing. Now the woman's voice was slowing beginning to sound muffled, as if Nonon was submerged in water.

"Oh, Nonon," Ragyo caressed the young girl's cheek, "I am very familiar with what I'm doing, you are not my first test subject. The one that you claim to love was the first."

Assuming she heard correctly, Nonon tensed up angrily. "You experimented on Satsuki!? You damn bitch, I'll cut off your tongue!"

"So much anger in such a petite body," Ragyo casually chuckled while beginning to slowly walk around the table. "Tell me, do you think she feels the same about you?"

"What?" Nonon had to ask again because of her numbed hearing. 'Honestly, the hell did she inject me with?'

"Do you think my daughter shares the same feelings for you?" Ragyo asked.

Nonon has wondered that for past few years now, she didn't know what to say.

"What makes you think you're suitable for my daughter, hm?" Ragyo began to taunt. "What qualifies you to be worthy of someone of my flesh and blood?"

"...I'm..."

"I've known you for a good, long length of time, Nonon, and I must say I can't imagine Satsuki having any feelings for someone like you. Aside from being a quick snack for her bloody appetite, you simply aren't worth her time."

Nonon furrowed her eyebrows and tried to act like she wasn't just emotionally impaled. But she didn't have any witty retorts to lash out anymore, Ragyo knew just what strings to pull to silence seemingly anyone.

Ragyo took pride in her little victory and began to exit the room, the heels of her shoes clacking against the tiles as she left. When she had gone, Nonon was left alone, her thoughts the only thing to keep her company.

'I'm ok...I mean, I'm nowhere near Satsuki's worth, but I'm ok, I guess...Maybe...' Nonon sighed, 'Who am I kidding? Ragyo's right...' She shut her eyes, she felt nowhere near worthy to hold Satsuki's hand.

-

Ragyo made her way for Nui's room where she knew her and Ryuko would be. Upon arrival, Ragyo heard quiet whimpering and panting from behind the door.

"You taste so good, Ryuko-chan," Nui panted behind the door.

Ragyo gave the door a knock before letting herself into the room. She found Nui over top of Ryuko, pinning her down to the bed, biting her neck and drinking her blood. Ryuko having her eyes shut, a heavy blush on her face, and moaning in the process, she seemed to be enjoying Nui's attention.

Ragyo cleared her throat to get the two's attention since they were apparently in their own world. "Nui, I need to borrow Ryuko for a little while."

Nui unhappily groaned. She slid her teeth from Ryuko's neck and lovingly licked the wounds to seal them. Heartily licking her lips to get any blood that didn't make it into her mouth, she drowsily flopped onto her back.

"Her blood regenerates itself super duper quickly, Ragyo-sama," she mumbled while enjoying the feeling of having a full belly. "She's like an unlimited blood bank."

"Indeed," Ragyo replied with a raised brow showing her interest. "But I'm afraid I'll have take her from you for a while. And I'll have an errand for you to run shortly after Ryuko departs."

Nui pursed her lips and groaned, reaching for the half-asleep Ryuko and pulling her closely into her chest. "Awww, where's she going? We didn't even get to the good part yet, she's getting all cute and lovey," she said gently playing with Ryuko's hair.

"You'll see, my darling, you'll see."

"And what will I be doing, Mama?" Nui asked.

"You will be delivering a message to your traitorous sister in the hospital."

-

The sun was setting beyond the horizon as Satsuki eagerly awaited in her hospital bed for Ira and Uzu's return.

'Honestly, what's taking them so long?' she asked herself while watching the ticking clock upon the wall.

While she waited for Uzu and Ira to come back and inform her if they've found any traces of where Ragyo has taken Nonon, she absent mindedly watched t.v. In the brief moments that she was actually paying attention to the show, she'd mentally scoff at how idiotically stupid the characters were and she would think of better ways that the characters' goals could be accomplished.

About twelve minutes of this went by when Satsuki suddenly jolted herself awake when she caught herself slipping into sleep. 'Damnit, stay awake,' she told herself not wanting have anymore nightmares.

"You're so cute when you're sleepy," a voice happily spoke.

Satsuki was slightly startled, as there was nobody else in the room with her. But she grit her teeth after a moment of realizing who that voice belonged to.

"Nui, where are you?" Satsuki asked firmly while closely inspecting the room.

"Up here!" Nui replied.

Satsuki looked up and found Nui in the t.v. Or the show? The characters were all screaming and running from Nui as she drove a car into someone's house. Exiting through the huge hole in the wall, Nui was now holding a juice box and happily waved to Satsuki.

Satsuki's never understood Nui's reality bending skills, but she has finally grown numb to them after years of finding it simply creepy.

"What do you want?" Satsuki asked in annoyance.

"Gimme a second!" Nui cheered. "Ok, I'm here!" Nui suddenly appeared beside Satsuki's bed and made her jump a bit. "Now what'd you say?" she asked taking a sip of the juice box that was still in her grasp.

"Nui, where is Nonon?"

"Hmm~? Who's that again?" Nui asked still smiling and tilted her head.

Satsuki couldn't hold back her rage, she grabbed the chest of Nui's dress and dragged her down to eye level. "Jakuzure..." Satsuki growled with fangs bared.

"You're squishing my boobies, Satsu, and it hurts," Nui smiled happily while slightly cringing.

Satsuki often hated how casual and nonchalant Nui was whenever a serious matter was at hand. She forcefully pushed Nui backwards into the wall behind her as she released her dress.

"I thought Mama taught you better manners than that, Satsuki-chan," Nui pursed her lips while fixing her dress. "And speak of the devil, she sent me with a message! Something about Noonoon being experimented on because you betrayed Mama and this is your punishment, blah blah bl-."

"Tell me where she is!" Satsuki demanded angrily.

"Easy, easy," Nui casually waved off the threat. "She says we'll get to that eventually, but for right now, you might want to check out news. Mama has another gift for you because you stabbed her in the back." Nui walked over to the t.v. and reached up to press the button to change the channel.

Upon finding the news channel, the frightened reporter explained that the streets were being terrorized by a rampaging werewolf with red markings. The live footage showed a bloodthirsty Ryuko slaughtering and devouring innocent people. Blood stains splashed the sidewalks, and gored corpses littered the areas that Ryuko had been.

Satsuki could only watch in horror as Ryuko crippled a helpless woman by shattering her legs with a single strike of her claws. As the woman fell to the ground screaming in agony, Ryuko grabbed her neck and raised her into the air before slamming the woman's head to the concrete. Her skull bursted from the impact, splashing the ground with the contents of her head as Ryuko sloppily tore into her backside and began to eat her organs.

"Remember when Mama said 'The innocent are going to pay for your stupidity?'" Nui asked. "Well, this is Mama's gift to you, Satsuki-sama..." she said with a hint of disgust in her tone when she added the honorific. "But wait, there's more! Once Ryuko's is done with her little buffet and she's back home with us, Mama's going to loosen her mind stitching so that she can see what she has done to so many poor, innocent people! I bet she's going to scream and cry and all that stuff. And this is all happening because of your stupid decision, Satsu. Oh, and we'll be keeping Noonoon for the next week, Ragyo's been dying to try some of her new stuff out on a mere human. Maybe I'll record it for you if you want..."

Nui giggled before simply vanishing into thin air. Satsuki was left alone, nothing but her rage and thoughts to accompany her. People were being slaughtered, Nonon was being horribly tortured, and Ryuko was eventually going to feel an unfathomable guilt for doing something she had no control over. Satsuki felt nothing but a deep sorrow and anger that she forced herself to contain as she sat quietly in her bed.

Satsuki had failed, and now many were paying the price.

-

The sound of screaming people fueled Ryuko's bloodthirsty ambitions. Her corrupted bloodlust even went as far as killing for sport, slashing peoples' throats and breaking their necks simply for fun, not even bothering to eat the corpses that didn't particularly look tasty to her. But even with her brain being mind stitched, she seemed to keep her morals of leaving children and the elderly unharmed. However; anyone who wasn't in those categories automatically became a potential target.

She'd even made a sick little game out of her hunt. She'd loudly roar, often triggering even more panic through the terrified crowd than there already was. The extra terror and fear from the bellowing roar often triggered an adrenaline rush in the people of the crowd. And this was what Ryuko loved the most. Whoever ran the fastest from the rush would be the one that Ryuko would chase after with a wolfish grin all the while.

Her fur sticky from the blood that it was splattered with, claws raking the sidewalk, Ryuko ran down the sidewalk after her terrified prey. Leaping upon an athletic middle-aged man from behind with a growl as he fell to the ground, she chomped down and cracked his skull between her teeth. She growled and attempted to spit out the mouthful of mushy brain that she found disgustingly distasteful.

She harshly flipped him over onto his back and shredded into the dead man's abdomen, hooking her teeth into his flesh before throwing her head back and gulping the meat down. Heartily liking her teeth, she admired such a satisfying sensation.

"Shoot it, damnit!"

There was a sudden gunshot that echoed through the streets and Ryuko roared in agony as she stumbled backwards from a sudden pain at the tip of her left ear. It intensely burned and stung like heated metal being pressed to bare skin. Her vision became blurred and uneven as the pain engulfed her entire ear and spread to her head. Normal bullets hardly fazed her, but the bullet that had clipped her ear wasn't normal, it was silver.

"You missed its head, moron! Fire again!"

Ryuko turned and focused her uneasy vision on the culprit who very shakily held a handgun pointed at her. His hands were ferociously trembling, it was amazing he was even holding the gun at all.

He held his breath and pulled the trigger once again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horribly sorry for taking so long to post this chapter. Ended up taking a break and then ended up procrastinating for way too long. Anyway, I'd hate to trigger someone's anxiety or panic, so here's a fair warning about this chapter (and probably the next one). If you are very sensitive to sexual abuse, then I recommend being cautious toward the middle section because there's a paragraph about Nui and Ragyo that may or may not be a little descriptive for some. If you do not wish to read it, it is the paragraph right after the sentence "There was a knock on the door that scared Nui into stopping her sentence." 
> 
> Hope you enjoy and constructive feedback would be immensely appreciated!! Please excuse any grammar or spelling errors that I may have missed ^^

Clink!

The bullet was deflected, and standing between Ryuko and the gunman was Harime Nui with her purple scissor blade in hand.

"Honestly, Mister, you really shouldn't play with guns!" Nui waved her finger in disapproval. "Someone will get hurt that way!"

"Hey, g-get out of the way, lady!" the gunman shouted. "You want that thing to kill us all?! M-move or I'll shoot you too!"

"You'd shoot little ol' me?" Nui suddenly appeared behind the man, startling him into almost pulling the trigger at the sky.

"The heck?! Get away from me!" the man stumbled away pointing the gun at Nui.

"Ryuko, you okie dokie?" Nui asked the dazed werewolf a few feet away.

"Klokahn," Ryuko uttered. A single word referring to being 'Dazed, but ok.'

"Oh yeah, forgot you speak wolfy words right now," Nui replied with a scratch of her head. "Anyway," she turned back to the gunman, "Bye, Mister! I'm going to kill you now!" she smiled casually.

The man shrieked and there was a sudden gunshot when he pulled the trigger and the bullet met Nui's neck. Blood erupted from the wound and spewed from Nui's mouth as she began to choke on blood and the bullet that was now embedded in her flesh.

Ryuko roared in a blind rage and sprinted toward the gunman that stood petrified looking his death bringer in the face. Ryuko's memories have been manipulated and false. In her mind, her best friend from a young age has just been shot. This was unforgivable, the gunman deserved a slow death. She forcefully brought her claws down on his knee and there was a sickening scream and a snap of bone as the gunman fell the ground. His leg was disgustingly bent in the wrong direction as he rasped out pleads of mercy that Ryuko only found irritating.

She turned to look at Nui who continued to cough and choke on blood and the bullet, although it somehow seemed like bad acting. Only a couple of seconds later, Nui suddenly stopped and smiled happily at the werewolf. Ryuko tilted her head in confusion. Nui held up her index finger to say 'Give me a second' before she gave one loud, rather over exaggerated cough.

"Bleh!" she rasped. Then she spit out the bullet that lightly bounced to the ground and the wound on her began to close and heal. "Just kidding!" she giggled patting Ryuko's head.

Ryuko lowered her ears, pursed her lips the best a canine mouth could and gave Nui the death glare.

"Don't give me that look," Nui gently pointed at the werewolf's snout. "It was all in fun, that's all!"

Ryuko looked away as if hurt by such an act. "Akehn tyurohn yahir Nui..." she mumbled. 'You scared me, Nui...'

Nui couldn't understand Ryuko's Wolven words other than picking her name out of the sentences, but it didn't take an expert in body language to be able to tell that she had upset Ryuko at least a little bit.

Nui sighed and her smile softened. She reached up and gently cupped Ryuko's face in her hands. "I'm sorry if I scared you, Ryu-chan." Nui then softly pecked Ryuko's forehead with quick kiss before patting her head. "Better?"

Had Ryuko been in human form, she most certainly would have blushed from the cute gesture. She eyed elsewhere and simply grunted her response.

Assuming the grunt meant "Yes," Nui gave Ryuko a big smile and walked over to the gunman who now had a now backwards facing leg as he cried out in pain. Raising her scissor blade, she eyed the man with not a smidgen of pity.

"This is for shooting my werewolf," she giggled as she brought down the blade straight down on his one good leg, completely severing the bone and flesh and slicing it in two. The scream that followed brought a sadistic grin to Ryuko's face as she stepped over to the man, drool beginning to drip from her mouth.

"Mama always said not to play with your food," Nui leisurely slid her scissor blade across the man's cheek causing a small amount of blood to run from the small cut. "But I think we can make an exception this time, hm, Ryu-chan?"

Ryuko chuckled while licking her teeth.

Two hours later, Nui and Ryuko's bellies were filled and the two had had their fun. Ryuko transformed back into her human form before they began strolling their way back home. The sky was black, no stars nor the moon were present to light it and turn the sky into a dark blue. She wasn't sure if it was because she was a werewolf or not, but Ryuko often disliked nights when the moon was absent. The moon gave her comfort somehow, nights like this made her feel vulnerable and at risk of something unknown.

"You alright, Ryuko-chan?" Nui asked walking beside her. "You seem nervous about something."

"Yeah, I'm alright," she replied, "just wish the moon was out. Makes me feel weird without it."

"Ohh, is it a wolfy thing?"

"Yeah, maybe."

Nui remembered Ryuko's bloodied ear that had been shot by the gunman. "Does your ear still hurt?" she asked.

"Still stings a little," replied Ryuko, "but not to badly since you cleaned it up."

A silence fell between them. Both were simply enjoying the others company in their quiet walk home. They two kept taking their time during their stroll, they'd been walking for about an hour and they still weren't very close to home. During this time, the sky had been blanketed with grey clouds, rain perhaps. But it was certainly cold like it had been for the past few weeks. Then something caught Ryuko's eye, a snowflake. She looked up and found it had begun snowing lightly and she stopped.

"What's the matter?" asked Nui a few steps ahead of her.

Something was softly biting at Ryuko's memory, like waking up from a dream you knew you had but just couldn't remember.

"I feel like I should remember something. I feel…kind of sad all the sudden," Ryuko replied still gazing up at the sky. "I don' know why though."

Nui didn't know exactly what Ryuko was referring to, but she knew Ryuko's corrupted memories were the cause of this feeling. She had to admit the mind stitching was not full proof, Ragyo had even told her so. If anything, there was something in Nui that wanted Ryuko to snap out of it.

"Sad over something you can't remember, huh?"

"Yeah…" Ryuko said softly as she began walking again. "Hm! Oh well."

Deep down, Nui really wanted Ryuko to regain her true memories so that she could help Satsuki take down Ragyo. Nui wanted Ragyo gone just like Satsuki did, but she couldn't find it in herself to go against her mother. She needed someone else to do it while Nui continued to be the faithful servant under an evil queen.

'Mama's going to loosen Ryu-chan's mind stitching when we get back…' Nui thought as she and Ryuko made their way again. 'All this just so that Satsuki can be taught a lesson, huh? Seems a little over the top just for that, Ryuko didn't even do anything. Wait a minute, what the hell?! why do I care?!'

A car drove by and interrupted her thoughts for a moment, but she quickly dived back in once it had passed. 'That's weird, I don't usually care about much. Well, I cared that one time when I dropped my ice cream on the floor. That sucked…Mmm, I like ice cream! Strawberry is my favorite...I wonder if we have any left at home...No, wait, I think I might have eaten it all the other day. I think we might have some vanilla left, I guess that will do..….Wait, what was I talking about?'

"Hey, Nuu?" Ryuko's voice wrecked Nui's already very distracted train of thought.

"Hm?"

"Does Ma hurt you when I'm not around?"

Nui was caught off guard and involuntarily held her breath for a brief moment from the surprising question. She didn't know if Ryuko had somehow broken through the mind stitching, and she didn't know Ryuko's memories at all. She didn't want to say something and then not have it match what Ryuko deemed true or false.

"Where did that come from?" Nui asked trying to buy herself more time to think of an appropriate answer.

"I don't know. It's just you weren't created…uh, naturally. It was like in a lab or whatever. But you know how in all those movies with living things being created in a lab, the people usually do experiments on whatever they made? I mean, Ma is nice and all, but she's just got that look in her eye. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know," Nui answered bluntly with a hint of sourness in her tone.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset," Ryuko apologized. She knew she had struck a nerve when she saw Nui without a smile. She stayed fixated at the ground in front of her as she walked.

'Damnit, Ryuko! You pissed her off,' she yelled at herself.

Nui sighed softly before wearing a smile again, although it was a rather weak one. "She does. But Mama does what she wants, Ryuko-chan. The sooner you accept that and the less you fight it, the easier your life becomes."

Ryuko didn't know how to respond to this. 'So she does hurt her…Damnit! There isn't much I can do about it either…' she thought. 'And I still upset her, now I feel bad…Hmmm….' "Hey, Nui?"

"Yes?"

Ryuko leaned over and planted a little kiss on Nui's cheek. "Sorry, I made you upset, that isn't what I was trying to do."

The gesture came as a surprise and Nui couldn't hide the light blush that formed on her face. 'What the heck!? What am I in her mind?!… Ah, well, whatever. Whatever stuff she does feel for me, it's all fake. Just a bunch of crappy lies…'

Nui finally realized how cold it was as the snowflakes and freezing breeze bit at her skin and caused her to involuntarily shiver.

Looking from the corner of her eye, Ryuko took notice of this and even saw that Nui had goose bumps. So she began to remove her jacket, ignoring the biting chill of the cold air that rushed her body immediately afterwards, she offered her jacket to Nui without a word.

Nui squinted in confusion. 'The hell's she doing?' "What?" she asked aloud.

Ryuko scoffed. "Wear it, you dummy," she replied gently still holding her jacket out for Nui to take.

"Why?"

"It's not rocket science, Nuu, I don't want you to be cold."

"But then you's be cold," Nui protested in confusion.

"And?"

'Ok, what the hell does this chick want and why is she being so nice to me?'

Nui rather awkwardly reached over and took the jacket, half expecting it to spontaneously burst into flames or explode for some bizarre reason. Putting it on, it blocked some of the cold air from brushing her bare skin. It was still comfortably warm from being worn, and Nui could smell Ryuko's pleasant scent in the fabric. "Thank…you…" Nui spoke softly.

"No problem," Ryuko turned to give Nui a warm smile.

After about forty minutes, the two young ladies finally made it home. However, this home was not something that the Nui and the Kiryuins were very used to. Ragyo no longer resided in a huge mansion, she knew Satsuki and her elites would find her if she'd remained in one of her many high class houses that Satsuki knew all of the locations of. Instead Ragyo has moved herself to a rather average neighborhood with normal size homes. It was far from living like the queen that she saw herself as, but it much better than living in the slums, places that she's claimed as "A place where lowlife vermin tread."

Knocking on the front door, Nui and Ryuko were greeted by Houhoumaru Rei who opened the door and bowed to them as they entered. "Evening, Ryuko-sama, Nui-sama."

"Sup," Ryuko replied.

"Hi, Rei-san!" Nui smiled as she pranced into the living room.

"Hello, Nui-sama. And Ryuko-sama, your mother has instructed that you go to her," Rei instructed.

"Ok," Ryuko replied. "Where is she?"

"Downstairs," said Rei. This house was a one story house, what Rei was referring to was more of a basement.

"Alright. Night, Nuu," Ryuko leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Nui's forehead before she began heading for the door to the basement.

"Night, Ryu-chan…" Nui replied with a light blush. 'Are…we together in her mind?' she thought.

Ryuko headed downstairs and into a very small laboratory. A single empty glass cylinder sat in the center of the room along with Ragyo waiting patiently for her daughter to arrive.

"Sup, Ma?" Ryuko asked.

"Come over here, Ryuko," Ragyo replied gently. "Let me see you."

Ryuko obeyed and stepped over to her mother, who welcomed her by wrapping an arm around her back and pulling her closely into her chest.

Ragyo gently took Ryuko's chin and tilted her head upwards. "You have such lovely eyes, my beautiful werewolf," she allured as she reached up and softly caressed Ryuko's cheek.

"Thank you, Ragyo-sama…" Ryuko replied weakly with a light blush. Looking into Ragyo's rather hungry eyes and feeling the powerful gaze brushing against her skin, Ryuko found it difficult to remain upright. She felt like she could just melt into Ragyo's alluring and enticing form.

In Ryuko's twisted memories, this kind of attention from her mother was normal. And she enjoyed the pleasure that often came afterwards, but the same could not be said for Nui and Satsuki.

Repeatedly gliding her nails tenderly over Ryuko's back and the back of her neck which sent shivers down the young lady's spine, Ragyo then gave her finger an upward pull and life fibers suddenly became visible. Skillfully stitched into Ryuko's spinal column and nerves, now attached to Ragyo's fingers by the red threads.

With a light tug on a single thread from her pinky finger, Ryuko was freed from the mind stitching as she gasped and seemed to choke on air for brief moment before collapsing to the floor on her knees and hands. Threads now lengthened and still embedded into the back of Ryuko's neck and all the way down her spine, Ragyo chuckled. With life fibers now sewn into a neurological gold mine, Ragyo had control of Ryuko's nerves and most of her body.

"I'll…kick…your head…down a fucking hill…you walking rainbow bitch…" Ryuko cringed. "The hell…did you do?..."

"Oh, you have such a dirty mouth when your mind is not my puppet," Ragyo replied. "So how do you feel, hm? How was you and Nui's dinner?"

Ryuko clenched her fists in anger, but she could do no more than that. Right now, her body was not her own. She could not move.

"You made me…kill…so many…" Ryuko slowly pieced together what had happened.

The memories of the innocents' screams, cries for help that didn't come, cries for the pain to stop. She remembered slaughtering mothers and fathers right in front of their crying child. All of the blood that she had painted the streets in, all the flesh that she had consumed. But the crying, the crying of the children was what was striking her heart the most. She didn't even notice it back then, but now she could remember how many children she had left to see the carnage.

"You slaughtered close to one hundred people, Ryuko," Ragyo smiled. "How does that make you feel?"

Ryuko hardly even heard what was just spoken to her, she was too busy bathing in guilt. The amount of sorrow and bloodshed that she knew she had caused for so many people was emotionally ripping her apart.

She remembered how alone she felt growing up. With only a dad who always worked, she thought about how many parents she had forced to leave their children to cry alone.

"I hate this…I hate this so much…" Tears quickly began to fall as anger and sorrow fought in her heart. Anger won over and she couldn't contain her rage as she shouted "I FUCKING HATE WHAT I AM! WHAT YOU MADE ME! YOU DID THIS! SO MANY ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF ME!"

"I did indeed do this to you," Ragyo's calm voice contrasted Ryuko's rage. "And I first thought I had failed to make what you are, but you were simply a late bloomer. And to think I threw you away. Oh, what a shame it is that you have to be mind stitched to be all mine again."

"I only killed and ate criminals, good for nothing trash on the street that hurt others…But you made me…slaughter innocent fucking people…" Ryuko looked up through her tears and let a growl free from her throat. "And for that…I will kill you with no regrets..Mother…"

"Think that if you wish, daughter of mine," Ragyo replied casually. "But you are now my puppet. And when my plans are said and done, and all the earth is consumed by life fibers, you and Nui will be useless to me. I will dispose of you both."

And with that said, Ragyo tugged on the life fibers and forced Ryuko to stand to her feet. Embracing her once again like she had left off before she was freed, Ragyo strongly wrapped her brain in life fibers. Ryuko's pupils suddenly shrank and her rather crazed appearance returned, she was again the memory-twisted servant.

"Your mother would appreciate a small drink," Ragyo spoke softly into Ryuko's ear.

"Y-yes, Ragyo-sama," blushed Ryuko.

Nui had changed her clothes and now wore a pink tank top with purple shorts. She had gotten situated in her bed a few minutes ago, she was now curled up and snuggled her face into her pillow. Her vampire abilities granting her the need for only about a single hour of sleep every week, so she was not tired. Instead she simply wanted to rest and relax while Ragyo was busy. Almost every night, Ragyo would remind both her daughters of who was in charge. Wether it be with forced pleasure, or with excruciating pain in the laboratory. But Nui has suffered the pain for far longer than Satsuki, and this was one of the reasons why Nui was rather envious of Satsuki.

'Lucky little princess…' she thought angrily. 'Mama has always li-'

There was a knock on the door that scared Nui into stopping her sentence. Her heart began to pound, she held her breath, was Ragyo done already? Nui dreaded Ragyo's nightly attention.

While Ragyo was soft and gentle with Satsuki, she was hurtful, cruel, and sadistic to Nui. Being violently beaten before being forced to pleasure Ragyo's body was something Nui had somewhat gotten used to. The screams and whimpers that came from Nui's room weren't of pleasure, but pain. Ragyo would always come up with new ways to "play" with Nui. A small and less violent example would be how she'd hold Nui down and forced her fingers down Nui's throat to make her gag, choke, and gasp for air. Sometimes even scratching her throat from the inside and making it slightly bleed. The list of what Ragyo referred to as "games" felt endless to Nui. And she wasn't aloud to protest, cry, or plead. If she did, it would mean a painful bite or scratch on very sensitive areas. Ragyo had even gone as far as breaking Nui's fingers if she didn't behave the way she was instructed to.

"Oi, Nuu, you up?" Ryuko's voice asked gently from behind the door.

Nui was surprised to not hear Ragyo's creepily charming voice saying that she was coming in. She removed her blankets and rose from her bed to walk over and open the door to find Ryuko wearing similar sleepwear.

"I'm awake," Nui smiled.

"Well, since you're awake, I was wondering if I could sleep in your bed again?" asked Ryuko casually.

'Again?' Nui asked herself.

This was when Nui came to the conclusion that they were more than likely a couple in Ryuko's mind. And despite having nothing but bad experiences about sharing a bed with someone else, she didn't want to possibly mess up those false memories because of the fear of a punishment from Ragyo.

"Yeah, sure," Nui answered while stepping aside for Ryuko to enter.

"Thanks," Ryuko walked in.

Nui closed the door behind them and begged the universe to make Ragyo leave her be for the night.

"What side do you want?" Ryuko asked when she stopped in front of the bed.

It felt a little odd being asked what she wanted, Ragyo rarely gave her that luxury. "The…right, I guess?"

"After you then," replied Ryuko with a warm smile.

Nui crawled onto the bed and covered up with her blankets, and Ryuko joined right beside her. Closing her eyes, she quickly felt a sense of nakedness. Realizing what was missing, she stuck her arm out of the warm blankets and into the cold air outside them as she began feeling around the floor. Her hand bumped into something soft and she eagerly grabbed it before pulling her arm back into the blankets. Now in her grasp, she hugged a medium-sized, blue, rag doll-like plushie of a dog that she had named Cereal. The plush's appearance was quite old and raggedy after years of use, Nui couldn't think of how many times she's had to sew it whenever it had gotten torn. But she still loved it dearly, it was one of the two things that offered her comfort as she grew under Ragyo, the other thing being the comfort and kindness of Hououmaru Rei.

Cereal was in fact a secret gift from Satsuki when they were small children. Witnessing Ragyo hit Nui for the first time after she accidentally dropping a glass cup, Satsuki wanted to try and help make her bruised sister (who cried quietly under the covers of her bed) feel a little bit better. Satsuki remembered that they had gone to the mall the previous day and Nui spotted and immediately loved a blue dog plush that Ragyo said she didn't want to pay for despite being extremely wealthy and the dog only being four dollars. After asking Rei (who was far more kind than the leader of the house) to go the mall and buy it, the deed was done and the plush was given to Nui whose frown was quickly turned upside down as she hugged Satsuki and thanked her approximately thirteen times.

"Why is his name Cereal again? I forgot," Ryuko asked upon noticing what Nui had reached for.

'She knows his name?' thought Nui in surprise. 'Ragyo certainly put a lot of details into her memories.' She chuckled when she remembered the simple reason, she turned to her other side so she could see Ryuko. "Because when I was little, I dropped him in a bowl of cereal and decided that would be his name."

Ryuko laughed softly. "Simple, but cute."

It had gone silent for a few minutes, Nui had assumed that Ryuko had fallen asleep since her eyes were shut, but then Ryuko opened her eyes spoke.

"Hey, Nuu?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry that I can't really do much about Ma hurting you. And something tells me that if I brought it up, then you'll probably get in mega trouble with her for admitting it to me. I've got a feeling you weren't supposed to tell anybody."

Nui frowned, Ryuko was pretty spot on. "That's just how it is, Ryu-chan…"

Ryuko wrapped an arm around Nui and embraced her with love and care. "I can't stop the pain, but I can be here for you when it's over."

Nui cringed and winced at Ryuko's touch, half expecting fingernails to pierce and painfully rake her back making her bleed. But nothing came. She was simply being held. Ryuko's warmth and gentleness was like nothing she had ever felt before. Nui had grown so used to hands that beat and hurt her, feeling the opposite felt slightly overwhelming. It was like she had felt nothing but unwelcoming cold that mercilessly bite at her skin for so so long, but then being introduced to the comfort of a soft warmth for the first time. She didn't know how to react, so she involuntarily ended up quietly crying into Ryuko's neck.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Ryuko asked with concern as she began petting Nui's head.

"It's nothing, Ryu-chan…" Nui sniffled as she wiped her tears on the back of her hand. "I'm ok. I guess I'm just…happy…" she smiled.

"Oh. Well, then I'm glad," Ryuko gave her a light snuggle.

Nui's smile melted away into a frown when she remembered this was all Ryuko's mind stitching doing its work. But she figured she'd cherish Ryuko's kind and gentle nature while they were on the same side, she knew it wouldn't last.

\---

(-Five Days Later-)

"Any trace of her?" Satsuki asked with her back to two of her elites that stood at her hotel room's doorway.

"No, Satsuki-sama..." Uzu replied solemnly.

"We've thoroughly checked all the places that you've told us your mother may be keeping Jakuzure," Ira began, "but we've found no information of our enemies location. However, H-"

"Get out," Satsuki sternly growled in a tone that was boiling with a quiet rage beneath its surface.

"B-but, Harime sh-"

"I SAID GET OUT!" Satsuki's anger finally spilled over as she slammed her fists to her table.

The males left immediately, closing the door and leaving their enraged superior to herself. Satsuki has slept no more than four hours in the last five days. Dark circles had finally formed under her now bloodshot eyes, and her hair had become knotted and tangled from tossing and turning all night long. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten something, four days ago perhaps? Her irritability had become something to be feared, she'd be set off by small things that normally wouldn't bother her otherwise. Standing from her chair, her fatigue left her feeling dizzy as she walked over to the hotel window.

'Nonon...' she thought grasping her shirt.

Her heart both emotionally and physically ached from the stress and anxiety that was feasting on her consciousness. Remembering the many dreadful things that Ragyo had done to both her and Nui in the laboratory, Satsuki could only imagine the torture that Nonon was being forced to endure at this very moment. While Satsuki was safe and mostly unharmed, Nonon was screaming. Possibly begging for the pain to stop. Falling in and out of consciousness when both her body and mind couldn't bare to endure a second more of the torment like Nui often did.

How many of her bones has Ragyo snapped? How many times has she made Nonon vomit from pain and the chemicals that she's been injected with? Ragyo knew just what strings to pull to do the most damage to someone. What if she damaged her in a way that Nonon could no longer play her instruments?

She felt helpless, impotent. Unable to do a single thing to save her childhood friend from her mother's cruel and sadistic hands. She wanted so desperately for this to simply be a bad dream, she's been having so many of them that she wouldn't be surprised if it actually turned out to be one. But it wasn't. No matter how much she wanted it to be a harmless nightmare, no matter how much she'd be willing to pay for all of it to false, this was her true reality. And Satsuki felt responsible for it. Her grief left her to soak her consciousness in the many thoughts of "What if" and "If only."

Clenching her teeth in anger and sorrow, she gazed up at the moon through her window as a tear ran down the side of her face.

'Nonon, be strong for me, I will find you.'

Lowering her head, she closed her eyes, practically begging for the universe to somehow, some way allow Nonon to hear her message.

"I love you too, Nonon," she whimpered aloud. Her emotional state frail and sore, she didn't bother to uphold her stoic demeanor as she silently began to cry into her hands.

\---

Lying upon the metal table, Nonon attempted to gasp for breath to relieve her burning lungs, but it was like her lungs were refusing to do as they were told and hardly moved to circulate the air. Her throat felt as if she were choking on hundreds of tiny rocks as she wheezed in and out the very minute amount of oxygen that she forced in and out of her lungs.

After a week under what Ragyo referred to as "care," Nonon felt very ill and her skin had gone very pale. Most of her veins were clearly visible and appeared purple, and they burned as if they carried boiling water instead of blood. Her ears leaked a sticky blue liquid, she had an excruciating headache, and a vile metallic taste that coated her mouth.

"Hm," Ragyo tilted her head, "that's different. My girls have never reacted to T34 in such a manner before."

Nonon could barely comprehend Ragyo's words after the last torture session. Two hours ago, Ragyo had hung Nonon by her ankles in one of the big glass cylinders that only had water at the bottom of the container. Lowering just her head into the water, Ragyo would keep her there until she ran out of air and began choking in the water. Ragyo would pull her from the water at the last moment only to stop her from drowning and let her get some air, but only to place her head back into the water to repeat the process. Now Nonon's ears were now too full of both blood, water, and a blue chemical from previous experiments to hear anything clearly. Everything sounded muffled, dull, and drowned out.

Ragyo had said something else that was mostly inaudible to Nonon's ears, but she didn't care. Nonon's memory was so clouded, who was she? As her breathing was slowly becoming more stable, she faintly remembered Satsuki. She remembered them both as children training their dogs in the backyard of Satsuki's big mansion.

"Good puppy, Juniper!" a young Nonon rewarded her favorite of the two dogs with a dog biscuit. "Hey, Satsuki, is it just me, or does Jun kind of smell like peanut butter?"

Satsuki was crouched down and softly petting Sun a couple of feet away, and she was doing something that she rarely did anymore. Smiling. She was smiling warmly at the adorable rottweiler pup that was playfully nibbling her finger.

"Yes, he smells like peanut butter for some reason," Satsuki replied. "Sun just smells like soap because of his bath."

"I gave Juniper a bath too, remember? And he still smells like a sandwich. But that's ok," Nonon replied picking up the small doberman puppy and giving it a hug. "It's weird that he smells like that, but I like it. Now I kind of wish Sun smelled like grape jelly."

"Why is that?"

Nonon laughed and snuggled the playful pup, "Because then we could call them PB and J!"

"Nonon," Ragyo's gentle voice interrupted Nonon's memory and brought her back to the present time. "Day dreaming, are we?"

Nonon felt so distant, as if she were dreaming. Like she was but a tiny speck of dust in an abyss of her own mind. Thanks to Ragyo's multiple experiments that seemed to affect her mind much more than first anticipated, Nonon found her thoughts drifting away without her for some time now. Many times in fact. But what was the time? How long had she been here? A month? A year?

"Hmm…Who are you?" Ragyo asked in a very gentle tone, not sounding creepily charismatic and unpleasantly charming like usual.

"I'm...'' Nonon felt so devoid and desolate. As if she was nothing. She felt nothing within her muddled and numbed mind. She remembered only scrambled bits and pieces of what she hoped to be true memories and not simply lies that her brain made up to keep her sane.

"What is your name?" Ragyo asked trying to find out where Nonon's memory was.

"What...is my name?"

Ragyo raised an eyebrow at the response. Satsuki and Nui often had small gaps in their memory whenever they first awakend from unconsciousness, but they seemed able to sort them out after only a few short minutes. It has been four hours since Nonon had woken up. Her memory was not improving, but instead fading as time passed.

"Do you know me?" Ragyo asked the groggy young lady.

"You're..." A faint memory of the woman's name floated into Nonon's mind, but hardly anything more than her name and what she looked like. "Kiryuin Ragyo..."

"Good girl," Ragyo rewarded like Nonon was some kind of pet. "Do you love Satsuki?"

No memories of that name came to mind, no image. "Who's...Satsuki?"

Ragyo couldn't help but smirk at such a response, then it turned into a full, devilish smile and she couldn't retain a small laugh. "La vie est drôle," she chuckled evilly.

"What's so funny?" asked Nonon with an emptiness in her tone.

"Oh, nothing," Ragyo kept a grin as she reached for the small rolling table holding her tools and picked up a scalpel and syringe full of bright orange liquid. "So tell me, Nonon," she injected the needle into Nonon's bloodied and damaged shoulder, "what's your favorite instrument?"

\---

As the sun began to rise and painted the sky in a lovely pink and yellow, Satsuki reluctantly rose her head from her desk. Looking at the clock, it read 7:02. She didn't think it was possible, but another nightmare filled night sapped even more energy from her overly exhausted body. Glancing at the mirror hanging upon the wall, she lightly sighed through her nose.

'Well, I certainly look like I haven't slept in almost a week. I look awful,' she thought. She went to the bathroom and grabbed her brush and began fixing up her hair. Putting little effort, she sloppily removed some of the larger knots while putting even fewer effort into the smaller, less noticeable tangles.

After grabbing her toothbrush and cleaning her teeth, she took her key card to her room before opening her door and heading down the long hallway. Walking four doors down, she gave door a knock. After waiting a moment, she heard a loud tumble before Uzu opened the door. He apparently had woken up just seconds before judging by his wild hair and rather dazed expression from practically flying out of bed.

"Morning, Satsuki-sama," he greeted with a respectful bow of his head.

"Morning. I wish to apologize for my outburst last night as well as my temper for the past few days," Satsuki replied gently. "I know you all are trying your best."

"No need to apologize," Uzu smiled warmly, "you're under a lot of stress, it's understandable. Oh!" he perked up a little. "The thing we were going to tell you last night was that Harime showed up while we were searching one of your mother's houses. She…Well, brought us a message from Ragyo."

Satsuki's eyebrows furrowed a bit, she could already tell she wasn't going to like the words that were going to follow.

Uzu seeing Satsuki's reaction caused his heartbeat to speed up a bit, he knew as well that Satsuki wasn't going to pleased at all after hearing what he had to say. Taking a deep breathe, he worked up the courage to finally deliver the unpleasant message.

"Nui says that Nonon is…she's not doing well. She's apparently in a lot of pain and is suffering some memory loss. Your mother has intentions of killing Nonon unless you agree to meet with Harime alone at The Smiling Coyote and return back to her. She says that Ragyo will in fact let Nonon go as long as you take her place. Basically a trade..."

Satsuki clenched her fists in a quiet rage. She turned and aggressively walked back to her room, forcing the key card into its slot and slamming her door shut upon entering her room.

'I'll kill her,' she hissed quietly, anger seething from her teeth. 'Fine, Ragyo, I'll play your foul game if it means Nonon leaves your grasp. Knowing you, she'll…most likely need medical attention...' She couldn't help but think about the condition Nonon was possibly in. For all she knew, Ragyo could have cut out Nonon's tongue or broke every bone in her body just for the fun of it.

'The Smiling Coyote? That's not too far from here,' Satsuki thought. 'I can be there in about fifteen to twenty minutes if I leave now.'

Within seconds, she quickly changed into her outdoor clothes and eagerly exited her room, still quietly seething with anger.

"Satsuki-sama!"

She turned to look behind her and found Houka and Ira standing outside their hotel room. "What?" she asked with poison in her tone.

"Do we…Um…" Houka felt like he was carefully picking up glass as he spoke, he and Ira knew the slightest thing would set Satsuki off and they needed to be cautious with what words they chose.

"I'm in a hurry, damnit, spit it out…" Satsuki hissed.

"What are our orders, Satsuki-sama?" Ira took over for Houka. He felt dreadfully vulnerable with Satsuki's piercing blue eyes glaring his way. He didn't want to admit it, but when she was angry, Satsuki's eyes reminded him of her mother's. Silently vicious, fearfully charismatic, making you feel like a mere mouse standing before a mighty lion.

"You will continue to search for Ragyo even without me, she's almost certainly she's hiding among the commoners. Also keep Non-" Satsuki paused for a moment. "Keep Jakuzure company if she wishes for it, as she will more than likely need to go to the hospital when Ragyo releases her."

"What if Ragyo doesn't keep her word and keeps Jakuzure?" Houka asked.

"My mother is many things, but she's not a liar. Now leave me and do not follow," she instructed.

"Yes, Satsuki-sama!" the two saluted as their leader began walking off.

Satsuki knew she was walking into her mother's torturous hands, but her main focus was on freeing Nonon. And there was a very faint possibility that she'd manage to escape and even take Junketsu back with her. She hurriedly walked out of the hotel and made her way to her silver car. Driving to the Casino known as The Smiling Coyote, she clenched her fists at the sight of Nui who was sitting on a bench kicking her feet out.

Parking her car and stepping out, she had to avoid stepping in a puddle of vomit just outside her door. Observing the tall and colorful building, the large neon sign contained a cartooned coyote with a big toothy grin while the words beneath it read "The Smiling Coyote," although the "g" was burned out. Loud pop music could be heard even from outside as Satsuki approached Nui.

"Oh, goodie!" Nui sprung up and clapped her hands together, "You're finally here, I've been waiting for like a whole fifteen minutes! Man, they've got some pretty heavy stuff in there, I've seen like seven people walk out and then throw up before face planting on the way to their car!"

"Take me to Mother," Satsuki demanded looking down at the shorter young lady.

"Hmm, sure you don't want to go inside? The dancers will sometimes get up on your table and dance for you while you eat! And if you swing both ways, there are some guys that'll do it too," Nui said with a smile.

"Nui…" Satsuki said calmly, "please."

Nui sighed and her tone softened. "Fine, fine." Nui began leading Satsuki behind the casino and into a dark back ally. Satsuki assumed she'd be knocked out at any time and then taken to Ragyo. Then Nui spoke again, and Satsuki noticed her smile was gone. "Mama's pretty ticked at you, Satsu. The stuff she said she's going to do to you...Are you sure you want to go back to her?…I can just say you didn't show up…"

And there it was again, a reminder to Satsuki that Nui still had at least a smidge of compassion left despite most of it being drained out by years of cruelty. Satsuki knew Nui wanted freedom and that she needed someone else to grant it, but it would have to wait.

"I won't let Jakuzure die, Nui, the guilt would eat me alive," Satsuki replied.

"Well, I'm gonna have to knock you out then," Nui stopped and turned to face her.

"Then get it over with." And the last thing Satsuki saw was Nui's fist.

As Satsuki regained consciousness and her eyes opened, she immediately felt painful straining on her arms and shoulders. She was hanging by her wrists, but this time there was no water surrounding her to offer buoyancy. She was forced to hold up her own weight, and she found this made it a challenge to breathe. It was like her lungs weren't expanding as much as they should and left her only allowed to take quick, shallow breaths. After finally taking notice that she had been striped of her clothing, she observed her surroundings; she wasn't in a glass cylinder, but instead a tall metal cage in a massive and empty room with a single walkway leading to her cage. And looking through the bars, she saw her mother standing proudly as ever, wielding a long white blade. But Satsuki's eyes widened when she one of her two dogs, Juniper the doberman sitting beside Ragyo.

"Good, you're finally awake," Ragyo spoke. "Before we get started on your punishment, I'll inform you that I have kept my word and have released Nonon. Nui arranged something and delivered her to your other elites and she's know in the hospital."

Satsuki was relieved to hear Nonon was in the hospital getting medical attention, but that couldn't take away the feeling that Ragyo was about to do something awful. She could see it in her mother's eyes, Ragyo was going to make her suffer.

"Now," Ragyo looked at the doberman pinscher beside her, "If I remember correctly, this is Juniper?"

Satsuki's heart began to pound, why was Ragyo holding a blade?

"I remember how much you and Nonon would play with this little sweetheart. I'm pretty sure you favored Sun between the two, but you treated them both like your babies. It was indeed quite adorable, and look at him now, full of grey hairs. He's had a good life, don't you think?"

"Mother…" Satsuki spoke softly, greatly pleading with her eyes to leave her dog alone.

Ragyo chuckled with a malevolent smirk as she raised her blade and held it pointed down over the oblivious dog's head.

"You're…sick, Ragyo…Just sick." Satsuki wanted to at least pet her dog one last time, but she couldn't even do that. "Juniper…"

The dog perked up and waged his tail when he heard his name as he gazed happily upon his master.

"Who's a good puppy?" Satsuki tried to sound cheery.

Juniper jumped up in excitement and starred at Satsuki as if anticipating for the answer to be said.

"You're a good puppy…" Satsuki answered softly.

Juniper happily jumped about when he heard those words which put a faint smile on Satsuki's face, but that's when Ragyo chuckled. She swiftly brought the blade down and blood spurted at Satsuki's feet.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, but this chapter's pretty dang short and was writen quickly. I've been super anxious, nervous, and scared about some real life crap and my urge to write tends to plummet when I'm anxious. So again, I apologize. I'll keep on writing, but don't be surprised if it takes longer for the chapters to come out, so please be patient and I hope you can still enjoy. (Also, who can spot the slight Hellsing reference in one of the lines? ;))

Satsuki closed her eyes, the sight before her churned both her stomach and her anger. Juniper, now an old dog with many faithful years behind him, lie dead before one of his two owners.

"Nothing to say, Satsuki?" Ragyo teased as she reached the bloody sword through the bars and in front of Satsuki's face.

Satsuki hung from her chains quietly, trying to piece together how anyone could possibly be so cruel. The scent of Juniper's blood directly in front of her nose, she unwillingly took the smell in. She opened her eyes, an unmistakable ire gleaming from them that could make one's very soul tremble.

She still found it difficult to breathe, but she spoke proudly despite slightly panting. "It takes…a special kind of evil person to intentionally harm an animal…" Satsuki glared, hatred burning in her eyes. "It takes a special kind of evil person to abuse one of your children…while you pamper and bathe the other one in luxury…"

"Nui?" Ragyo chuckled as she revealed a key that she bad been holding in her other hand. She walked through Juniper's blood and unlocked Satsuki's cage and stepped in, casually gazing into the angry eyes of her daughter. "Nui, a child? No, no. She was always more like a loyal dog than a child, a obedient pet, a mere puppet. Why give something so undeserving like that the luxury that I could give to my own flesh and blood?"

Nui quietly stood just out of sight near the entrance of the massive room as she listened to what was being said. She knew Ragyo didn't care about her. She always made it clear and obvious, Ragyo didn't even bother to pretend to care. Nui had accepted that she wasn't loved, and she had come to terms with this long ago. But actually hearing those words out loud, it made something emotionally click inside her just then. With impressive silence, she snuck away and headed for her room.

Satsuki grit her teeth, her eyes gleaming with detestation. "You…are the very definition of vile, revolting in its purest form...You are dirt, and you truely disgust me."

Ragyo harshly grabbed Satsuki's chin and forced her fingernails into her skin. "When have I ever allowed such rudeness to be spoken to your mother? Ask not the sparrow how the eagle soars. That is what you have said in the past, am I correct? Tell me, Satsuki. If you are the eagle that soars above all who oppose her, and I have captured you, then what does that make me?"

Satsuki did not respond.

Ragyo released Satsuki's chin, leaving small, lightly bleeding red marks where her nails had been. She began to walk a slow circle around Satsuki, softly caressing her bare skin while she did it.

"Perhaps I am the hunter, the one who fires the arrow and shoots you down from the sky. Perhaps I am the owner who clips their new pet's wings, caging them and leaving them grounded with nowhere to go. Or perhaps I am simply the parasite beneath your skin, feasting on your wings to make you tame."

"I may be grounded, caged. But I am still above dirt, I am still above filth... And filth can not and will not tame me!" Satsuki spoke boldly into her mother's face.

Ragyo laughed as she wrapped an arm around Satsuki, pulling her closely into her form and harshly hooking her nails into Satsuki's rear. "We'll see just how untamed you are after I'm through with you, my dear. I might as well put dog collars around Nui and Ryuko's necks, the same will go for you soon enough."

"You'll try," Satsuki remained stoic despite her position.

"And I will not fail," Ragyo gleamed with that charming smile still on her face. "I will break you, and come back only to break you some more. The method I've found that works best on a disobedient pet is to simply," Ragyo quickly pulled back a fist and powerfully struck Satsuki in the abdomen and watched as blood erupted from her daughter's mouth, "beat them into submission."

Ragyo's punch felt like what Satsuki imagined being struck by a rapidly speeding car felt like, except that strength and power was compacted into a fist. It was not human, far from it. Not even a professional could have such a degree of raw might. The impact pitilessly jarred Satsuki's organs and ribcage, the sheer force behind the fist left Satsuki dazed and exceedingly close to fainting.

"We're going to have lots of lovely mother and daughter time, it will be quite the treat," she said softly before licking her lips. "Oh. And one more thing about Nonon before I forget."

Satsuki's anger quickly began to boil even more. She felt it in her heart, something was wrong, and she dreaded the to hear what it was.

Ragyo leaned in and whispered painful words into Satsuki's ear, and the pride in Ragyo's tone made it even more sickening.

"Not only does Nonon not remember who you are, Satsuki, but she now suffers nerve damage in her shoulder, and is also quite ill. But there's more, she also lies unconscious."

Satsuki's eyes widened, she internally begged and begged for her mother to not say what she was thinking. But to no avail. The words were spoken, and something in Satsuki broke.

"Quietly in a hospital bed, little Nonon lies in a coma."

\-----

"The hell do you mean there's nothing you can do?!" Uzu raised his fist in anger at the doctor before him. "You're freaking doctors for crying out loud!"

The male Elites stood in a long hallway outside Nonon's hospital room as they spoke to her docter, Dr. Whitewood who had a clipboard full of paperwork at hand.

"A coma is a state of unconsciousness," the lady doctor replied calmly, but still understanding why she got such a response. She spoke sympathetically, trying not to enrage Uzu than he already was. "So I'm sorry to say there's nothing we can do to wake her. Not even pain can wake patients in a coma. But depending on how deep she is in her unconsciousness, she may in fact be able to hear you, just not respond to what is said."

"Really?" Uzu asked curiously as he lowered his fists.

"Yes," she replied. "It's not uncommon for patients that come out of comas to report hearing the conversations that were held around them. Some can even remember word for word what a visiting friend or family member had told them."

"Interesting," Houka held his chin.

"Anything on her illness?" asked Ira.

"She seems to be a few things going on with her, it isn't just a single illness. One problem is that we took a blood sample and unfortunately found snake venom. The venom carries hemotoxin, a substance that destroys red blood cells. These are the cells that are needed for clotting the blood, and with the venom in her system, she's losing them. Because of this, she seems to have developed a case of hemolyptic anemia. But luckily, this is treatable and her symptoms are very mild."

"What else?" prompted Ira.

Dr. Whitewood flipped over one of the papers on her clipboard and gave it a look before looking back up to the Elites.

"We've also found multiple unknown substances in her system, we'll have to perform more tests to get to the bottom of exactly what they are. We assume these unkown substances are the cause of her veins becoming so visible. Her heartbeat is also a bit irregular. And judging by her extreme difficulty breathing and intense coughing, we assume there's something in her lungs. We also took a brain scan and found that she is in a lot of pain, although it becomes difficult to tell exactly where the pain in coming from because she's unconscious and can't tell us where it hurts. But we're going to give her pain killers and perform a brain scan again until we can see that the pain goes down. We've still got to perform more tests to obtain all the information that we can."

"And her shoulder and arm or whatever?!" Uzu asked eagerly.

Dr. Whitewood was silent for a moment and found it difficult to look Uzu in the eyes. She sighed softly before speaking with pity in her eyes.

"Her arm is hanging on by a few pieces of meat, and the nerve damage…the chances of her being able to move her arm again are very slim...I'm very sorry…"

Uzu immediately turned around and angrily walked out like a silently brewing storm. His blood was boiling in rage for what Ragyo has done. He was a silent fury at the moment, but it wouldn't remain silent for long. He needed to get someplace else immediately, his kind have a long history if being unable to control themselves when angered.

He picked up his pace and began running through the hall, jumping down three flights of stairs, carefully avoiding collision with other people before running out the main entrance. Feeling his canines becoming long and sharp, his sense of smell and eyesight heightening, and skeletal structure shifting, he angrily ran into the night with a snarl.

Ten minutes had gone by. "Want me to go find him?" whispered Houka as he and Ira sat in a couple of chairs in the hallway near Nonon's room.

"No," replied Ira with hardly any force in his tone like usual, "just let him cool off. He'll probably be back when he has."

The two couldn't find anything to say for a few minutes, none of them have ever been in the hospital before, and it was a dreadfully nerve-wracking feeling. The frightening questions of what will happen to Nonon nawed at them from the inside out. They feared the worst, Nonon may never wake up.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: suicidal stuff is a big part of this chapter. I greatly apologize for these chapters taking a while to come out. Real life and stuff slows the process. Please forgive me for any grammar errors that I overlooked and failed to correct. Hope you enjoy.

With Satsuki captured, Ragyo, Nui, and Ryuko have returned to living like the high and mighty. Residing in a smaller mansion that she had not yet used until now that Satsuki had not known about, Ragyo didn't feel threatened in the slightest.

"Oi, Nui," Ryuko knocked upon Nui's bedroom door. "You alright? You seemed kind of upset a minute ago."

No response.

"Nuu? I know you're in there."

Still no answer.

Ryuko sighed. She thought about Nui's frown as she passed her in the hall just a few short minutes ago. It was a look that concerned her, Nui always appeared happy and smiling. But not a moment ago, she instead had an desolate look in her eye.

"Nui?" Ryuko asked one more time. After waiting a moment and still no answer, Ryuko decided she'd let herself in. (Thanks to Ragyo, these doors had no locks.)

"I'm coming in, ok?" Ryuko reached for the doorknob and gave it a turn before proceeding into Nui's room. What she saw brought her dread.

She found Nui quietly sitting on her bed, gently grasping and gazing down at her own still connected heart as it pumped in her hand, blood dripping between her fingers.

"The hell are you doing?!" Ryuko cried.

Nui acted like Ryuko wasn't even there and continued to gaze upon her heart with an emptiness in her eye.

"Damnit, Nui, say something!" Ryuko shouted. "Put your heart back!"

"Why?" Nui spoke softly. "There's no point…It would be so easy just to…"

"What are you talking about?!"

"I've felt so numb, and yet…I feel everything…" Nui softly whimpered as she began to compress her hand around her heart.

Ryuko slowly stepped in with dread and worry, she felt like her legs had gone stiff and she could hardly move. "Please don't do this..."

"Why not?" asked Nui with single tear rolling down her cheek. "Not a single damn soul would miss me if I was gone…"

"Who the hell told you that?! You're worth everything to me, you dumb idiot! I'd miss you, I'd be heartbroken if you left! I love you, damnit!"

"Stop it, no you don't…" Nui said with a harshness in her tone.

"What th-" Ryuko was completely caught of guard, "Of course I do!"

"Shut up!" Nui screamed, "No you fucking don't!" She shoved her heart back into her chest before angrily standing to her feet and pushed herself passed Ryuko and ran out of the room.

Hearing the front door open and slam shut, Ryuko was left to ponder what just happened.

'She…was thinking about…suicide…'

She felt she had done something wrong, that she was failing to be there for Nui when she was clearly in distress. Angry and upset with herself, she exited the room and ran after Nui into the snowy night.

\-----

It's been four hours into Satsuki's imprisonment. Not long at all, but she had quickly grown sick of seeing Juniper's corpse lying in front of her cage, intentionally left there by her mother. But what was bothering her even more was the scent of the dead dog's blood, try as she might, she couldn't help but find it enticing.

'Disgusting…' she told herself as her stomach growled. 'That's your pet that you raised from a puppy, and yet your stomach growls at the sight and scent of his blood…'

Like her sister, Satsuki hated what their mother has made her become. From the moment she woke up from her mother's bite, she's wanted to be her old self again. Back to the time when her mouth did not water even at a mere paper cut.

Despite it being rather painful, hanging from her wrists offered the distraction of focusing more on breathing instead of the tempting scent. It still proved to be quite the challenge to get a decent amount of air into her lungs. On top of this, Ragyo's forceful and sturdy punch from a few hours ago left Satsuki with a deep pain in her abdomen that had quickly grown very sore and ached with every small breath.

But even with the painful, yet helpful distractions, her thoughts would often repeatedly bounce back to Nonon.

'She doesn't remember me…' she thought. 'And yet, I can hardly remember a time when she wasn't there with me...'

Then Satsuki heard the soft clacking of heels repeatedly hitting the floor, the sound progressively grew closer and closer until her mother came into view at the entrance. She currently did not wear her white dress, but instead a white lab coat. In her hands was the handle of a small, metal rolling table with some familiar tools and a roll bag sitting neatly on top as Ragyo pushed the table along.

"Evening, Satsuki," Ragyo cooed as she headed down the walkway.

Satsuki intentionally began mentally shutting down like she often did right before the experiments on her began. Like putting her mind into a mild slumber to somewhat avoid the situation at hand.

"How's Juniper doing?" Ragyo toyed.

Satsuki didn't answer.

"Shutting down already?'" asked Ragyo while unlocking the cage and stepping in. "That's alright, we'll still be able to have a lovely time. One can only hide in their head for so long. Now, let us begin," she whispered into Satsuki's ear, her hot breath brushing Satsuki's skin and making her want to shudder. "I've been so strongly wanting to paint the floor with your blood since your betrayal. Now I finally have the pleasure to do so, and I'm going to enjoy every single moment of it."

Ragyo picked up a scalpel that sat on the little table beside her and carefully raised the blade to Satsuki's face. Gently pressing it to her lips, Ragyo carefully slid the scalpel into her daughter's mouth.

"Any bold statements to proclaim before we begin? Might want to get it out now, I doubt you'll be able to speak very well in a few hours."

Satsuki knew her mother, she knew that speaking now would be foolish and would probably result in a bloodbath in her mouth. She kept quiet, but the disgust and hatred in her eyes spoke loud and clear, and Ragyo loved it. Ragyo loved every single glare, every leer, every time Satsuki grit her teeth, every ounce of hatred that Satsuki showed her. She saw Satsuki as a lovely prize, a beautiful trophy that she was glad to have brought into the world.

"You're smart enough to know when to hold your tongue, and yet idiotic enough to defy and declare yourself against me. It's become difficult to measure your intelligence, Satsuki."

Ragyo removed the blade from Satsuki's mouth and raised it above her head, pressing it down gently.

"Perhaps I should look inside your skull and have a look to find out," Ragyo softly slid the blade down Satsuki's scalp and down her forehead. Leaving a fine line on blood to trickle through her hair and down her nose, Satsuki remained expressionless and stoic. The blade left a stinging trail, but she knew this was the mere tip of the iceberg.

"You're a vampire now," Ragyo returned the scalpel to the table and picked up a large and rather intimidating knife. "If anything, you should be thanking me. You heal much quicker once you've drank blood, in fact you're far more difficult to truely kill. That's made our playtime more enjoyable, hasn't it?"

Ragyo suddenly jolted the knife forward and it quickly slid into the soft skin of Satsuki's abdomen with ease. Crimson spurted to Ragyo's hand, arm, and lab coat as Satsuki grunted and whimpered before her. But that wasn't enough, she wanted to hear her scream. While it was reversed when she "played" with Nui and the game was for her not to scream and cry, Ragyo wanted the opposite of Satsuki. With a chuckle, she forced the blade even deeper into Satsuki's flesh before she began to slowly twist and rotate the blade around from within her gut.

The sharp, cold pain was excruciating as the blade rotated, shifting and tearing open the organs in its path. Blood profusely ran down from the wound and continued to spurt on to Ragyo's clothing in fits and bursts. Satsuki felt warm liquid in the back of her throat, she couldn't help but cough and watch as her own fresh blood spewed forth from her mouth to Ragyo's clothes. The pain was immense as she continued to cringe and whimper, but she was not going to give her mother the pleasure of hearing her scream.

"Nothing to say?" smugly asked Ragyo, slowly beginning to curve the knife upward and pushing it into Satsuki's ribcage. With merciless force, she jolted the blade upwards and into Satsuki's lung and made it rupture.

Satsuki just barely contained her cry, it came out as a rough and muffled shout behind clenched teeth. Then she suddenly felt cold. Despite the distracting pain from her bleeding belly, now only a single lung that continued trying to get a decent amount of air, and sore wrists that held up her weight, she was beginning to feel numb. She felt weak, could hardly lift her head to view her mother's sadistic grin. Darkness began to cloud and seep into her vision, hearing becoming numb and dull, exhaust creeping into her very being. She looked up and saw the blurry shape of her mother smiling in satisfaction. She had let go of the knife that was now deep inside Satsuki's body. She raised her hand to her lips with a chuckle and began to slowly lick the warm blood from her fingers. Darkness consumed Satsuki's vision shortly afterwards, everything went black as the chill of death crept in. Satsuki was gone and hung lifeless in her chains.

\-----

It's been roughly four hours since Nui stormed out into the cold night, and Ryuko has yet to find her. About an hour back she had taken the risk of transforming into a wolf to be able to track Nui's scent, but it only took a few minutes for the trail to run dry. Ryuko assumed correctly that Nui quite literally vanished into thin air and reappeared elsewhere like she often did when trying to spook people for humor, Ryuko didn't even try to understand that special skill.

The biting cold knicked at her skin as she ran down the crowed street of the city. Dodging people left and right, her heart pounded from both running and also from the fear of knowing that Nui planned to hurt herself.

"Damnit, Nui…" she came to a stop when her aching legs threatened to give out from exhaust. Then the phone in her pocket vibrated a single time. Her heart raced even faster in excitement thinking it was Nui as she pulled it from her pocket, but gazing upon the screen left her annoyed.

It was a text from someone named Mako that read: "RYUKO-CHAAAAAN YOUVE BEEN GONE A REALLY >REALLY LONG TIME AND YOU SHOULD COME BACK BECAUSE WE MISS YOU! THIS WOLFY BUSSINESS OF YOURS IS TAKING WAY TOO LONG IF THATS WHAT YOURE DOING!!!!!!!!!"

Ryuko irritatedly huffed, she had grown tired of these messages from this person and has had quite enough. Immediately after reading it, she blocked the number. Ryuko was a bit of a procrastinater and had repeatedly put off blocking the number up until this point, so she felt rather accomplished having finally done it. She was still puzzled how the contact name had gotten into her phone, she figured Nui had done it to joke around with her.

"Nui!" Ryuko snapped back to the former task at hand. Putting her phone back in her pocket, she looked about her surrounds for any signs of Nui. Any flashes of pink in the crowd would draw her attention, but it always turned out to be someone else. She didn't even know if Nui was in this part of the city and it was an extremely low chance of Ryuko just so happening to spot her.

'Need to think of something to make her come to me…' Ryuko thought while stopping to lean against the wall of a shop. 'If I could just talk to her face to face…'

She pulled out her phone yet again to double check for a response to her texts, but the screen showed nothing from Nui. She'd called her seven times and sent her five text messages all at different times, she couldn't help but think of the worst. But she wasn't going to give up trying if she was still alive. And whenever she'd call, she knew Nui's phone was at least on because it rang for about half a minute. If the phone was off, it wouldn't have even rung for more than a mere second. All she could do was hope that Nui was alive and simply ignoring her calls.

With a still pounding and anxious heart, Ryuko called Nui an eighth time and waited, and waited, and waited. The seconds felt like long dragged out hours as listened for Nui's voice. Nothing came. But just when she was almost certain the call would go to voicemail, the phone was answered.

"Nui!" Ryuko shouted into the phone and slightly startled a few people that were walking by.

There was a muffled cough on the other side of the line, and Nui's cheerful and peppy demeanor was completely absent when she answered.

"What?" Nui replied with next to no enthusiasm.

"Where are you?! Are you alright?!" Ryuko asked eagerly into her phone.

"At home," Nui answered with hardly any energy.

"Are you alright?" she spoke gently knowing that yelling probably wasn't what Nui wanted to hear.

"I'm working on Shinra Ko-," Nui was abruptly interrupted by a coughing fit.

Ryuko's brows furrowed. "What happened? Why are you coughing?"

"Just a li-" Another cough cut off her words once more, she could hardly get a word out without interruption. "Just…a little sick…" she said softly.

"You think I can't tell when my girlfriend isn't telling the truth?" Ryuko prodded. "You're hurt aren't you?! What happened?! Did Ma do somethi-"

"Mama's coming back, I've got to go."

"No, wait, Nui!"

But Nui did as she said and hung up. Eager to see and protect her, Ryuko began sprinting home to Nui.

\-----

Quickly putting her phone aside, Nui leaned forward and concentrated on the tiny detail on the far from complete kamui before her. The table was full of loose life fibers and her sewing equipment neatly placed to the side. She coughed loudly once again and the sound reverberated among the walls of the very large room that she used to make her clothing. Ragyo's punishment for running away had not faded yet. An injection that's effects were rather basic, but still quite unpleasant. A sharp pain with every breath that felt like a knife sliding and carving away at her lungs and throat.

Her throat felt raw and dry, her lungs irritated, itchy, and sore. It was unpleasant, but compared to her long torture sessions in the laboratory, this was merely an inconvenience while she worked. And she was familiar with the substance, its effects only lasted about an hour and no more. She'd easily manage.

Just then, Nui heard the door open and the dreaded clacking of Ragyo's shoes reached her ears. In her current mental state, plastering on her fake smile felt like lifting one hundred ton weights, but she managed to greet Ragyo with an overly cheery persona.

"Ragyo-sama," Nui spoke with a smile. She didn't have quite as much enthusiasm in her tone this time around. It wasn't devoid of energy like the way she sounded on the phone to Ryuko a minute ago, but it certainly lacked her usual playful zeal. Ragyo noticed it, but couldn't possible care any less. If anything, she enjoyed knowing that Nui was broken.

"Stand, Nui," Ragyo stepped behind her.

Nui obeyed and put down her needle and thread. Standing to her feet she turned to face the tall woman before her.

"You were just on the phone, were you not?" asked Ragyo.

"Yes…"

"With Ryuko?"

"Yes, Mama…" Nui submissively looked to the side. "But I promise I didn't tell her anything…"

"Good girl," Ragyo reached for Nui's shoulders. She gently turned the shorter young lady around before pushing her backwards against her tall form. Sliding a hand into the chest of Nui's dress and grasping her breast, she began to fondle and tease her as Nui began to whimper and writhe beneath the touch. "We wouldn't want dear Ryuko getting hurt now, would we?" Ragyo leaned down and gave Nui's neck a slow lick.

Nui squirmed and shuddered as Ragyo's warm and wet tongue glided smoothly against the sensitive skin of her neck. An uncontrollable blush had formed upon her cheeks and she felt her heartbeat beginning to quicken within her chest.

"You've been very naughty, my dear Nui, running away like you didn't have duties to fulfill," Ragyo continued to tease Nui's body. "I never would have thought you would have developed genuine feelings for my little Ryuko. But it appears to be a good thing. Since you've decided to get off your leash, it seems your liking for your 'Ryu-chan' is what will bring you back to me."

Ragyo breathily whispered into Nui's ear, "Love is truely a weakness, isn't it? You know, I find it humorous how the only way someone could possibly love you is if they're mind stitched to do so." She chuckled and slowly caressed between Nui's legs, earning her another whine and squirm from the shorter girl. "Just know that if you seek suicide again, Ryuko will become a twisted and mangled corpse hanging in my laboratory. You have a job to do, and you will see it through until I have no use of you. Are we clear?"

"Y-yes, Ragyo-sama…" Nui lightly panted.

"Good pet."

Ragyo licked Nui's neck once more before opening her mouth and harshly piercing her flesh with her canines. Blood quickly engulfed her mouth and she swallowed with a satisfied grin as it smoothly ran down her throat. She chuckled, her pet had a weakness. Nui came back only to keep Ryuko out of Ragyo's harm. A weakness that Ragyo intended to manipulate for her own enjoyment in one way or another. Nui was a toy to her, and she was going to be treated like one.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a bit longer, am having an emotional time and writing isn't exactly my number one concern at the moment but please don't be too upset with me (/;-;)/ I do greatly appreciate your patience. But anyways, I hope you can enjoy this rather lengthy chapter! I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors that I overlooked and failed to correct.

Ryuko lie restless in her bed and irritatedly pulled the covers over her head, groaning when she looked out the window and noticed the sun peaking itself past the horizon. She had not slept since she returned home after looking for Nui, who desperately just wanted to be left alone upon Ryuko's return.

"I'm tired, Ryuko… Please just leave me alone…"

Ryuko couldn't help but replay in her head what Nui had said to her of when she finally made it home.

'Tired… She's tired of…living…' Ryuko thought as grasped her pillow. 'That's…why she always wants to sleep when she comes home… Wait a mi- Damnit! Vampires hardly even need sleep! Why didn't I realize that until now?! She sleeps so she doesn't have to be aware of anything! You stupid idiot, Ryuko, you're freakin' slow!' she scolded herself.

She sat up and pulled the covers from her head, her hair tangled and untamed from tossing and turning most of the night away.

'What would make her want t-' she suddenly stopped, eyes widened, and brows furrowed. 'Ma…' A low animalistic growl boiled in her throat. 'Damnit, this family is fucked up. My sister killed Pops and apparently hated our guts all along, and Ma abuses my girlfriend.. Jeez, now I feel like sleeping.'

Then she heard a bedroom door in the hall open and close. Eager to see if Nui had come out of her room, Ryuko quickly slid off her bed and headed to her door. She turned the handle and stepped into the hall, but looking to her side, down the hallway walked Ragyo turning the corner. And in her hand was…a syringe?

'The hell? Was she just in Nui's room?' Ryuko asked herself with a puzzled gaze. Stepping over to Nui's room, just when she was about to give the door a knock, she stopped. Listening closely by putting her ear to the door, she heard sniffling and quiet whimpers.

"Nuu?" she asked in a soft tone.

"Ryu…ko…" Nui whined from behind the door. "What…do…you want…? Go awa-" she was ubruptly interrupted by coughing and the sound of liquid splashed to the floor just seconds afterwards.

"I'm coming in!" Ryuko called before swinging the door open and was not prepared to the sight before her. Nui was kneeled on the floor, naked and cringing. Her long blonde hair loose and tangled, her face was red and tear stained as snot ran down her nose. Her eyepatch absent from her face and lie on her bed instead, her hand quivered and shook weakly as she raised it to cover her discolored eye from Ryuko. A small puddle of blood and vomit just in front of where she sat upon the tiled floor, and fresh, wet blood remained on her chest, back, and belly even though the wounds that had marked these areas had already healed. Her left arm was hanging limply to the ground offering her no support; there was a slight bulge underneath the skin where the bone of her upper arm and her shoulder met. Her shoulder had been dislocated and had not yet healed.

"Nui, what the hell happened?!" Ryuko ran into the room.

Nui was flooded with embarrassment and shame in having Ryuko present and seeing her in such a state. Her stomach felt like it was twisting and forming itself into tight knots, and a relentless migraine mercilessly reeked havoc on her head from stress. She was hot and sweaty, panting from exhaust and a rapidly pounding heart, her throat was dry and ached with every breath. Speaking was the last thing she wanted to do right now. "Ryuko…just go away…" she mumbled.

Ryuko hardly heard Nui's response since she had run into the bathroom and retrieved a wash cloth from the cabinet before wetting it with warm water at the sink. After it was fully soaked, she twisted it and allowed most of the water to be drained down the drain which left the cloth damp, then she also grabbed a towel from underneath the sink and stepped quickly back over to Nui. Placing the towel over the puddle of vomit, Ryuko kneeled down in front of Nui and tucking her legs underneath herself and reached up to Nui's face. Nui flinched at Ryuko's incoming touch, but relaxed when she felt very gentle hands beginning to clean her face with the wet wash cloth.

"Did Ma do this?" Ryuko asked sternly, the hairs on the back of her neck bristling from the anger boiling from within.

Nui didn't want to answer, she was recently reminded to keep her mouth shut about these events, not to mention that her mind was currently rather numbed and distant. Ryuko continued cleaning Nui's face, or at least most of it. Nui kept her hand over her discolored eye, often being told by Ragyo how vile and disgusting it looked to her even though it merely had a thin red line going across it and the iris was a mix of grey and dark blue. "I don't care about your eye, Nuu Nuu, you can move your hand," Ryuko said in a gentle tone.

Nui shook her head side to side. Ryuko decided she'd have to persuade by doing it herself. She very softly took Nui's hand in her own and carefully moved it away from her eye. And although Nui looked embarrassed at having her eye uncovered, she allowed Ryuko to see her whole face and hid nothing from her so she could clean it properly. And Ryuko did, she softly wiped around Nui's eye and cleaned the tears and blood from the side of her face with tender care. She was doing so well that she noticed she was actually making Nui rather sleepy, sometimes closing her eyes and leaning her face into Ryuko's caring hands as they cleaned. Once she was satisfied with her work and Nui's face was nice and clean, Ryuko leaned forward and sweetly planted a loving kiss on Nui's eyelid.

"Want me to turn the shower on for you?" Ryuko asked.

Remembering the odious event that had happened just a few minutes before made her stomach churn as Nui weakly nodded her head with a distant look in her eye. Both herself and Satsuki always took prolonged, drawn-out showers in an attempt to wash off at least some of the shame of being treated like nothing more than a play thing.

Ryuko stood to her feet and headed for the bathroom where she turned on the shower water before coming back out to Nui. "Alright, hop in. I'll come check on you in a bit if you want, I've got something to do." Ryuko turned to the door trying to contain the low growl that she wanted to boil in her throat. Exiting the room and shutting the door behind her, she felt her canines beginning to sharpen as she angrily made her way down the hall.

'She's going to pay, she's gonna fucking pay. Who the bloody hell treats someone like that?!'

Within a few moments, Ryuko stood as a bipedal wolf with a rage she intended to expel upon her mother. Following her mother's scent through the house and to its source in the large basement where what was going to be Shinra Koketsu lie far from completion on the massive table. In she walked and saw Ragyo observing the contents on the table.

"Morning, my dearest Ry-"

Ryuko fearlessly interrupted with a guttural snarl and bared teeth.

Ragyo chuckled at the interruption with amusement. "And what has you in such a foul mood, hm?" she turned around to face her daughter with a grin and a raised brow.

Ryuko lowly snarled at such a dumb question, her ears pointed high and the fur on her back bristling, she boiled a growl in her throat while she gave her answer. "Akehn miag bazwo yanva riiz remklofdah, mehah." 'You must think I'm the remklofdah, Ma.'

The ancient word "remklofdah" can translate to "a genuine idiot," "pure moron," and even "the original fool." With the added "riiz" in front which complicatedly means both "most," as well as "of many," or "an abundance of," this turns "riiz remklofdah" into "most foolish of fools." The shortened and modern term is "remkla" which is simply "dumbass," but the full word has more of a sting to it.

Ragyo chuckled, "And why would I think that, dear? You seem very upset."

"Dev kainiin kaivo tahiiv yanva tao!" Ryuko shouted angrily baring her teeth. This very modern slang term basically means 'Yeah, I'm pretty fucking pissed, actually!'

"Language, Ryuko," Ragyo said with a smug head tilt. "You may be angry, but I'm still your mother."

"Akehn yatsa yanva kaivo tao yuul!" 'You're the one I'm fucking pissed at!' Ryuko roared viciously as the sound made an echo throughout the large room and her anger began to boil over much like the drool that leaked from her jaws. Her fur still bristling, ears flattened, her heart pounding, her muscles firm and prepared. "Yan redkaav valkuubre akehn kainiin gyagdel trelp ta ake kiih fet Nui!" 'I want to rip your fucking head off for what you did to Nui!' she snarled.

Ragyo chuckled and nonchalantly began to walk toward the wolf with a grin all the while, her powerful gaze forcing itself into Ryuko's beautiful silver and blue eyes. The meak would easily cower and become submissive from being the target of such a formidable glare. But as Ragyo came to a stop right in front of her, Ryuko's rage blocked out the very icey and charismatic fixation that made men feel like mice. Both pairs of eyes blared into the other's, feeding off the other's disgust for the other's audacity.

"Pardon, but don't you mean what I've been doing to Nui?" Ragyo began. "This isn't the first time, Ryuko. This has happened almost every night since she was young, it's humorous how long you've lived with us and you just now managed to find out. Although, it is pretty early for you to be awake, you often sleep until around ten o'clock. She's usually cleaned herself up by the time you're awake."

Something snapped. Ryuko's rage engulfed and wrapped itself over her actions, an enraged werewolf was fury and anger in its purest form. They lose nearly all sense of their humanity, the very essence of the wolf within them takes reign. To kill and annihilate the cause of their rage is their one and only goal.

The next thing she knew, she felt and heard the low crunching of bone between her teeth. Her jaws were shut and her teeth and tongue were drenched in blood. But the taste, that unique taste is what suddenly stopped her from mauling the source of her seemingly unstoppable rage. She just froze. She had bitten down on Ragyo's shoulder, the fulfillment of tasting vampire blood.

Ragyo remained casual and continued to smirk as if her collarbone, upper arm, and shoulder weren't in multiple pieces. "Do you remember now, Matoi Ryuko?"

'Matoi…' Ryuko stood wide-eyed and dumbfounded. The memory of her father came forth. It was clouded and not one hundred percent accurate in every tiny detail, but one thing's for certain, it was not Satsuki who killed him like her false memories had told her. And Satsuki. Ryuko remembered breaking into her house, the deal they had made to kill Ragyo, the failed rebellion, becoming Ragyo's puppet.

She slowly opened her jaws from Ragyo's ravaged shoulder and glared with a toothy grin. She was furious, but oddly felt like laughing at the wild ride she's been through all because she wanted to make a meal out of Satsuki. Reaching up to her head, Ryuko forced her claws into her skin. Her hand began to glow red and somehow managed to surpass her skull as she reached in, her fingers found the life fibers and she forcefully yanked them free. Panting and growling from the bizarre, woozy pain that the fibers had left, Ryuko glared with a smile and vengeance in mind. "Akehn kibu kaiiningrah." 'You little fucker.'

Ragyo chuckled. "Honestly, daughter, your mouth is so foul. It's quite clear you were not raised by me in more ways than one."

Ryuko didn't hesitate, she saw the chance and mercilessly raked upwards at her mother's neck with her claws. Ryuko's hand became splattered in crimson, Ragyo's neck was marked with a bloody vertical gash, her trachea had been ruptured and torn beneath her daughter's expression of rage. A single small cough left her mouth and blood trickled down her lips, but the chuckle and prideful smirk behind them made Ryuko growl at such audacity.

"Such strength," Ragyo rasped as her throat began to heal and her tone returned to normal. "Your kind are quite the display. You certainly tend to lack the grace that your counterpart has, but you make up for in ferocity. You're quite a lovely prize to behold, much like your sister. But Nui is lovely too, Nui is my adorable, little toy," she taunted.

Ryuko snarled and went for the kill. She lunged forward and closed her teeth completely around Ragyo's neck with a rageful roar. Her jaws easily pierced the flesh; the low crunching of the spinal cord at the back of her mother's neck was music to her ears, and the pleasing sweet and sour taste of vampire blood coated Ryuko's entire mouth.

Even though she had broken through the mind stitching and her anger should have died down at least a little bit, she was still heavily fueled by the rage of the cruel act upon Nui, someone she had come to genuinely favor.

Her thirst for revenge was quenched when she saw Ragyo's head roll off from her body and hit the floor with a low thud and a splat of blood. Ragyo's face was empty and expressionless, eyes open and gazing into nothing. It was mildly off putting as her body too fell to the floor, and Ryuko looked upon the bloody mess she had made. But she felt victorious, nothing can live without a head, right? She starred at Ragyo's body to make sure. And there it still lie motionless, and the head too was still unattatched and sat idle a couple of feet away. Even vampires would be truely killed if they were decapitated. Ryuko knew this, this is how she had planned to kill Satsuki in the beginning, so she huffed pridefully with a grin. Falling down on her hands to walk on all fours, she crept over the body and she opened her salivating mouth to feast on the corpse. Except it wasn't a corpse.

Just when Ryuko's teeth were mere inches away from Ragyo's skin, Ragyo's fist swung and bashed the side of Ryuko's head. The pure power behind the hit was more than enough to make Ryuko stumble away from Ragyo's body. The impact jarred her brain and she was knocked out almost instantly as she fell to her side unconscious.

Ragyo's head chuckled as her body began picking itself off the floor. They were difficult to see, but multiple very thin life fibers had kept her head connected to her body. These threads are exceedingly strong and very difficult to severe by normal means, a special item is required to damage them. Picking up her decapitated head and returning it to her neck with a small twist, Ragyo's head was good as new and the wound quickly healed.

Smiling all the while, Ragyo stretched out a hand over Ryuko's head and life fibers came into view, stretching from Ragyo's fingertips to Ryuko's brain and placed the mind stitching back into place. Now that she knew Ryuko could indeed break free with the right stimulus, she needed to be sure she didn't taste vampire blood which seemed to be the trigger. She began to form small knots around Ryuko's brain, perhaps the most delicate thing she could perform using mind stitching was a process called "memory blocking". Existing as a being of life fibers herself, Ragyo was, in a sense, connected with the mind stitching. So through the life fibers, she was able to see and feel the thoughts and memories of Ryuko. One could say that she was inside her head.

Closing her eyes for concentration, she searched for what she was looking for while going through other memories that had happened recently. Upon finding the memory of which Ryuko found out about what she had done to Nui, she carefully began forming multiple knots around the memory itself. Mind stitching was more than simply tying threads around one's brain, it was going inside the individual's mind and tampering. The threads of mind stitching acted as the eraser to the chalkboard, the muter of music, the whisperer of false words. They were a gateway. This is why she could tie up and place a knot around a memory without doing it in the literal sense which would quite frankly be impossible.

She very carefully and put tedious work into forming a total of two knots around what had happened to Nui this morning, and one knot on what had happened leading up to this very moment. The last thing she'll remember is going to bed last night. Ragyo wanted to place knots over the events that Nui had caused the night before, but too many knots could greatly damage her brain function and mentality, knotting was such a extremely delicate process that could very easily turn sour if the tiniest detail was not completed or done incorrectly. So after few short minutes of tedious but sufficient work, she decided what she had done was going to be enough. Seeing the blood on the werewolf's pelt, she exited the room and went to retrieve a towel. Upon returning back, she wiped the spattered blood from Ryuko's fur and any around her mouth. She'd dispose of the towel after she had put Ryuko to bed.

With a tug on a mind stitch thread, Ryuko's werewolf form began to shift into her human form.Once the tranformation was complete, Ragyo reached down and carefully scooped up her daughter in her arms. Carrying her all the way back to her room, she gently laid her down on her bed and covered her up in the blankets. Upon doing so, she left her to wake up on her own. Stepping over to Nui's room, she gave it a knock and let herself in. Upon inspection, Ragyo found the tile floor was very clean and devoid of any mess. Nui always obediently cleaned up any mess that had been made from the night, so she was now in the shower. The bathroom door was shut, so she gave it a knock as well before doing as she always did and letting herself in.

"Nui," Ragyo cooed as she stepped into the bathroom.

Nui sat idle in the tub of her shower, hugging her legs tightly to her chest as she allowed the cold water to run down her body. Her face red and stained from the tears that she learned to keep hidden from her mother, she swallowed and hoped her voice wouldn't betray her and form a whimper.

"Yes, Mama?" she asked in a somewhat cheerful tone, she was relieved her voice didn't show of her distress.

"The memories of anything that happened this morning have been blocked from Ryuko. You should know better, but don't bring anything up. Even if you did, it's unlikely, but possible that she'll be able to remember. Also don't allow her to have any vampire blood if you can help it. Understand?"

"I understand, Mama." Nui connected the dots and knew that Ryuko's righteous fury for what Ragyo had done to her is what had gotten her memories blocked. Nui had felt an odd comfort in knowing that Ryuko finally knew about what Ragyo did to her, but the heavy weight of keeping that secret had returned, that comfort torn away. She was back to square one.

"Good girl. Now, finish up and continue your work on Shinra Koketsu. I'll be heading down to see your sister."

\-----

Satsuki's eyelids suddenly sprung open as she longly gasped and eagerly forced air into her hungry lungs. She panted longingly, her body desperate for the oxygen that had not been needed just moments ago. But try as she might, she still hung in that same awful position, her eager lungs could only obtain a small amount of oxygen at a time. Satsuki's vision was extremely blurry, her body was cold as her heart steadily began to beat once again, but she shivered at the need for warmth that her body had not been generating for hours. Her stomach was empty and growled with impatience, her tongue and mouth were dry and demanded hydration, and a splitting headache viciously swept forth into her brain like a wave.

'I'm…alive…?' she thought, trying to ignore the demands and cries of pain from her aching body. 'I thought I…' Satsuki looked down to her belly, nothing. The wound was gone. The blood from the incident was indeed still present, it was simply dried and crumbling, spattered and made a trail of red down her skin. But the open wound itself was completely absent, not even a scar. Looking to the rolling table left by Ragyo, it was there that the bloodied blade that was plunged into her abdomen sat.

'She killed me,' Satsuki thought, 'but I'm obviously living again. Seems a genuine death is less attainable for vampires, we simply heal unless our heart is ruptured or our head fully removed.'

She was relieved when she realized Juniper's body had finally been moved and was no longer in the room, so she found at least a little comfort in not having to see and smell it decay before her. She hung there quietly for a few short minutes wondering how long she'd been there like that. She took as deep a breath that her lungs would allow and sighed at losing her sense of time. She had no way of knowing it had only been around seven hours.

Hanging quietly, her body ever so slightly swaying, she closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander. Nothing too profound came to her. Mainly thoughts of Nonon, Ryuko, Nui, her Elites. She wondered what her life would have been like if her mother wasn't a sadistic monster, what would be different?

'Me and Ryuko wouldn't have been separated,' she answered herself. 'Nui might not have a such a sour view of me because of how differently Mother treated her compared to me. And Nonon and I… Nonon wouldn't be sick…'

The feeling of utter uselessness returned upon remembering Nonon's current state. Her disgust for her mother and what she's done gnawed at her heart, there has never once been a day in Satsuki's life when she was happy her mother was alive.

And speak of the devil, Satsuki heard those dreaded clacks of her mother's heels once again coming her way. She opened her eyes and mentally prepared for a torturous round two as her mother came into view and walked down the path towards her cage.

"Good morning, my dear," Ragyo stepped over and unlocked her daughter's cage. "How was your first taste of death, hm?"

Satsuki simply glared directly into those ghastly eyes of her mother that she so quickly grew to hate. Her eyebrows weren't even furrowed as she watched her mother enter her prison. No, her face was calm, but it was her eyes alone that spoke volumes. A trait she undoubtedly obtained from the very woman she wanted so desperately to remove off the face of the earth.

Ragyo stepped forth and mentally indulged in such a steely gaze that reminded her of her own, adoring this powerful and authoritive trait that few could ever truely attain to such an astounding degree. "Such beauty, Satsuki," she raised Satsuki's chin with her index finger and studied the details of her daughter's beautiful blue eyes.

Satsuki forced back the urge to just animalistically crunch her mother's hand between her teeth, she absolutely hated when Ragyo touched her face.

"I was beginning to think I had ruptured your heart and actually killed you," Ragyo carefully caressed Satsuki's side. "The very first time a vampire is killed incorrectly, it normally takes about four hours for them to come back. You were dead for around seven hours," she took a couple of steps to get behind Satsuki. "But I'm glad you're alive again, I'd be so disappointed if my favorite thing to play with died. The games I play with you," she began to softly fondle Satsuki's breasts from behind, "are no fun with Nui or Ryuko. They don't fight back," she breathily whispered in her daughter's ear. "Where's the fun in a game where you win without even trying? No, they give themselves to me, you do not." Ragyo lowered a hand between Satsuki's thighs and continued to fondle with the other. "That's why you're my favorite."

Despite Satsuki remaining stoic and doing her best to mentally block out the situation, uncomfortable couldn't even describe the feeling of this violation. The demotion and being treated lesser than a human being, the shame and disgust of it all had made a younger Satsuki vomit the very first few times after Ragyo was done with her. But now, older and mentally stronger, the only thing that she needed to help her cope was to take long showers in cool water. But it didn't appear like Ragyo was going to allow that at this point.

Satsuki's fists tightened at remarkably pleasurable sensations from Ragyo's fingertips as the caressed her, she could have sworn that life fibers could do something pleasurable to bare skin. Ragyo's touch was icey and cold, yet pleasant and warm like the sun, a trait that Nui also shared. Satsuki cringed and tried not to give Ragyo the satisfaction of seeing her writhe before her, but her body began to betray her as she attempted to hold back whines of pleasure.

"Satsuki, you are my beautiful prize," Ragyo chuckled at Satsuki's attempt to hold back a moan. "I hope you'll get nice and comfortable in this cage, because from now on and until I truely dispose of you, I am all yours, and you are all mine."

\-----

Fresh out of the shower and wearing clean and comfy pajamas, Nui lie curled up and asleep in her bed beneath a big mound of thin blankets and sheets. With her stuffed dog named Cereal in her grasp, she snoozed soundly and planned to do so until her alarm went off at three o'clock in the afternoon to work on Shinra Koketsu until late at night.

Because being in a dark room made her feel tense and unsafe, she had her lights turned on as well as the purple curtains of her window open to allow the sun's light through the window. Even though she was buried in blankets and couldn't see the light anyways, it brought her comfort in simply knowing the lights were on. Her fan turned on high purely for the comfort of white noise, she dreamed peacefully as her chest slowly rose and fell beneath her warm blankets.

Despite being abused like Satsuki from a young age, often times even worse than Satsuki because of the degrading insults that were casually spoken and the brutal beatings that came with it, Nui was not plagued with dreadful nightmares. She was privileged with a brain that often dreamt up crazy and ludicrous stories as opposed to what Satsuki dreamt about instead.

In her current dream, she was wearing a pirate outfit while riding a bicycle on the ocean's surface, a shovel in hand, and looking for treasure with her piranha sidekick.

Then a rhythmic knocking in the form of a short tune wrecked Nui's dream world and she opened her eyes and was back to reality. "It's Rei," Rei's voice softly reassured from behind the door. Sitting up and allowing the blankets to fall down her back, Nui reached for her eyepatch on her bedside table and placed it over her eye before sleepily staggering out of bed and to her door.

Nui opened the door and yawned. "Hi, Rei," she groggily whispered.

"Good morning, Nui," Rei greeted warmly. In her hands was a coffee mug full of steamy hot chocolate topped with a few small marshmallows. "I made this for you."

"Ooo!" Nui perked up immediately as Rei handed her the mug. "Thank you, it smells yummy!"

"You're welcome," Rei smiled. "Well, I'll let you get back to your nap."

"Oh, actually," Nui started before Rei could begin to walk off. "Do you want come in for a little bit?"

"Don't mind if I do," Rei stepped into the room with a kind smile.

Nui closed the door before both her and Rei took a seat on the floor like they had sone since the beginning. "We haven't had a chat in a really long time."

"Indeed, I was really starting to miss them. It's been about a year since the last one we did." Rei chuckled. "I was wondering if you had grown tired of them since we've done it since you were little."

"No, no!" Nui reassured with a wave of her hand. "It's cause Mama's been keeping me super busy with Shinra Koketsu in the evening."

"Oh, and how's that been going?" asked Rei.

The two went on to talk and laugh about some of the humorous moments that happened to them and things they've seen. Mountains of paperwork for Rei, Nui working on Shinra Koketsu for hours straight until late at night to keep Ragyo satsfied. But eventually, the recent events involving Ryuko, Ragyo, and Satsuki came up.

"So you've to come to favor Ryuko-san, hm?" Rei asked.

"Yeah…" Nui blushed while thinking about how kind Ryuko was to her. "She's super sweet, but it's…not really her, you know?" she asked before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Indeed…"

Quiet fell upon the room, the two simply enjoying the other's company. Their conversations almost always lead to this after running out of things to talk about, but the two didn't at all mind. The other's presence in these moments were rejuvenating and brought them a sense of peace and restfullness.

"I heard about…your litte episode…" Rei broke their moment of quiet.

"Hm?" Nui asked while tipping the bottom of her coffee mug upwards to get the last bit of her hot chocolate.

"You ran away with…hurting yourself in mind…" Rei spoke solemnly.

"Oh…" Nui softly sat her now empty coffee mug on the floor. "Yeah, but it's no biggy."

"No biggy?!" Rei almost shouted as if offended by such words. "Nui, you're a person! What makes you think your life isn't precious just like anyone else's?!"

"I don't know, Rei," Nui's tone turned bitter. "Maybe some things get stuck in your head when your being held down and forced to listen to the same stuff over and over again every night. Maybe that's where it comes from," she replied with passive aggression.

Rei sighed lightly, she was aware of Nui's abuse from a young age, she was in fact the one to comfort her in the mornings when Ragyo had finally gone. But similar to Ryuko's position, there was little that could be done about it considering exactly who the abuser was.

Rei stood up and walked over to Nui's bed and gently picked up Cereal before bringing it back to Nui and carefully setting him in her lap. Returning to her spot on the floor in front if Nui once more, Rei began. "You're life is important, Nui. No matter what anyone says to you, your life is worth more than the amount of stars that there is in the universe and beyond."

Nui gazed down and fiddled with Cereal's plush arms as she listened with disbelief in her eye. Then Rei reached out and softly patted Nui's head, speaking like the mother Ragyo chose not to be. "If your life had a price tag and everyone in the world were to combine they're money and expensive valuables in an attempt to pay the amount on your price tag, it still wouldn't even come anywhere close to paying what your worth. And wether or not you value your life, others do. Don't throw away something so precious. You wouldn't sink a ship filled to the top with massive diamonds, would you?"

The analogy made Nui chuckle.

"And your life is far more valuable than that ship full of diamonds, so fight to protect it." Rei gave Nui a warm smile and decided to sweeten the conversation with a hint of humor. "And just think about Cereal, who would he take his naps with? He'll have nobody to keep him company. Who'll pay his rent?"

"Mama would make him get a job or threaten to kick him out," Nui's added on with a chuckle.

Rei hoped Nui felt at least a little better. "Alrighty, little Nui, I best get back to work. Your mother will have my head if I don't get some papers on her desk soon," Rei said while rising to her feet.

Nui rose with her and walked with her to the door, "Thanks for stopping by, you helped me feel a little better like you always do."

"You're very welcome," Rei replied with a warm smile. "We should start these talks up again, come find me anytime." She turned to leave, but stopped upon remembering something. "And I also want you to remember this. I'm very proud of you and how strong you've become, keeping your chin up despite the circumstances. But know that it's alright to be sad as well. It isn't healthy to keep things bottled up."

Nui simply nodded with a small grin before Rei exited and she closed the door. She stretched and went to her bed to reset her little nest of blankets and pillows. With Cereal in hand, she pulled the covers over her head and dived her face into her fluffy pillow with a sigh.

\-----

Six full days later, and Nonon still remained unconscious and very ill. At least one of the male Elites would come to check on her once a day and speak to her just in case she could in fact hear them. Ira had become the motivater of the three, but even he was beginning to lose hope after hearing Nonon was in a deep coma. Between Nonon's condition and Ragyo's hold on Satsuki and Ryuko, it was quite the chore to try to remain optimistic. Nonon has not improved in the slightest, and their desperate search for their superior was constantly left with failure. They went to the police, even went from door to door, and still no results. The boiling frustration of it all had brought on rageful arguments and couple of short fist fights between Uzu and Houka that Ira had to break up before things got out of hand.

"One would think someone like Ragyo would be easy as hell to find, bitch is a freakin' walking rainbow for crying out loud…" Uzu hissed from Ira's side as the two sat waiting for Nonon's doctor to return to the room.

Ira was just as frustrated with their situation as Uzu and Houka, who stayed behind today to continue the search by searching surveillance camera footage. But Ira knew there had to be someone steadfast in their small group that was sinking in struggle. And despite Uzu's sour comment, Ira remained calm and simply sat quietly. Be also did so because he didn't want to fan the flames that were Uzu's rage at a time like this, he barely made it out of the hospital before be transformed from anger the last time.

"You sure you can handle any bad news this time?" Ira asked.

"Relax," Uzu answered while tilting his head to pop his neck, "I'll keep a cool head this time. I did my morning yoga today!"

"Since when do you do yoga?" Ira asked with a raised brow.

"Since like a year ago, it's relaxing. You should give a try, it'll help ya not be so tense all the time. You're gonna have some serious wrinkles in the future with those eyebrows of yours always shaped like a 'v'."

"Tch! Yoga is just the word they use for fancy stretching," Ira replied.

"It is n-"

"Evening," Nonon's doctor, Dr. Whitewood, stepped into the room.

"Evening," Uzu and Ira replied in unison.

"Alright," Dr. Whitewood took a seat at her desk and turned her chair to face the two. She took a deep breath and sighed softly, not the sign Uzu and Ira wanted to see. "I'm sorry to say that there has been very little improvement with Jakuzure's condition. Unfortunately, she was having extreme difficulty breathing today, so she's been placed on a ventilator to help her breath, if not breathe for her if the time came."

"Damnit…" Uzu muttered.

"No signs of her coming out of her…unconsciousness?" Ira asked. He didn't like using the word 'coma' because of the bitter reality of its meaning.

"I'm afraid not, she has not shown any progress in waking. Waking from a coma is a process, often small things like them opening their eyes is the first, but she has yet to do even that or make any kind of movement at all…" Dr. Whitewood replied.

The three spoke between themselves for a few more minutes, Uzu and Ira asking small questions here and there, but each question was left with a less than hopeful answer. Upon finishing the discussion, the two exited the room and stepped into the hall where they then began heading out. But then Uzu stopped.

"Yo, Gamagoori," he said as Ira continued to walk ahead of him.

"Hm?" Ira stopped and turned to face him.

"You go ahead, I'm gonna go back and talk to the runt for a bit."

Ira nodded. "Take as long as you need, I'll be in the car."

"Shouldn't take too long, be back in a few," Uzu replied before turning back and heading for Nonon's room. Taking the elevator and walking down the long hall of patients' rooms, he remembered Nonon's room number and headed straight for it. Upon arrival, he froze at the doorway, half expecting Nonon to be conscious and well, but also knowing of how unlikely that was. Forcing himself to step in and face reality, he was met with the expected silence from his unconscious Elite member. Like her doctor said, a ventilator sat at the side of her bed and the mask that accompanied it was placed over her mouth and nose.

"Sup?" Uzu said walking into the room and taking a seat in the chair beside Nonon's bed where she lie. "It's Uzu," he chuckled awkwardly. "Feels kind of weird not being called a monkey everyday by somebody..."

The lack of response left him in a deafening silence, a silence that he wanted so desperately for Nonon to break. He observed the ventilator beside Nonon's bed and visually trailed the tubes that connected it all the way to the mask over Nonon's nose and mouth.

"So that thing's breathing for you, huh? Looks pretty cool, all you need is a helmet and you could look kind of like a rip off Darth Vader from a b movie," he said half-heartedly. Another moment of quiet fell upon the room and Uzu softly sighed. "And this is the part where you'd say that I looked like Yoda…" He mentally played this scenario of Nonon sitting up from her bed and shouting those words at him, the thought made him chuckle, but only for a brief moment. The grin quickly melted away into a frown when reality set back into place when he looked over at Nonon who remained unmoved.

He observed Nonon's damaged arm and shoulder that had been properly bandaged up by the nurse. He thought about how tough it would be to wake up and be told that your arm had nerve damage and you more than likely couldn't use it anymore.

He sat quietly for a few more short minutes after deciding to just take in Nonon's absent presence. This was all Nonon had to give, but Uzu took whatever he could get in order to bring himself some kind of comfort despite it being quite bittersweet.

"Alright, you pink munchkin," Uzu stood from his seat after remembering Ira was waiting on him, "we miss you and that attitude of yours. So whenever you feel like coming back to us, we'll be waiting for you." Uzu exited the room and went to return to the others.

\-----

Satsuki continued to remain locked in her prison. Ragyo had left her to be alone about an hour ago, so she found comfort in knowing it would be a while until she returned. Her skin was clean because Ragyo had tenderly washed and cleaned her before she left. Her stomach growled and protested angrily as hunger pains gnawed at the walls of her stomach, her mouth was dry and eager for any form of hydration. Nui had come in to feed and offer her water three days ago, so Satsuki has come to the assumption that this may be her feeding schedule. And sure enough, she heard Nui humming a tune and heading her way.

"Afternoon, Satsuki-sama!" Nui cheered as she pranced her way down the walkway with a bottle of water and a small plastic bag full of saltine crackers. "How's it…hanging?!" she asked with pursed lips in front of a slick smile as she waited for Satsuki's response.

Satsuki wasn't one to laugh easily, and even if she was, she was too eager to finally be getting water and food to be paying much attention to the joke.

Nui chuckled and unlocked Satsuki's cage before stepping in, "Too focused on the yummies to laugh, huh?"

"The joke…simply wasn't good," replied Satsuki with a slightly raspy voice from having a dry throat that made it burn to speak.

"Wha-, not good!? That joke was perfect!" Nui squeaked while opening the bag of saltine crackers.

"Not humorous though," Satsuki lightly panted from the strain speaking took on her already ragged breathing.

"Psh! Fine, fine!" Nui picked up a saltine and held it to Satsuki's lips.

While eating with a parched mouth was not going to be the most satisfying feeling, Satsuki took the snack and proceeded to slowly chew and swallow it.

"Is it yummy?" Nui asked with head tilt and rather snide smirk.

Satsuki was no fool, she could tell Nui intentionally didn't give the water first despite that being what she was growing desperate for. Like putting salt on a wound, Nui gave her a salty snack to heighten the need for water.

"You…can stop the act, Nui," Satsuki rasped, most of the moister in her mouth now sapped away by her snack. "Don't…be passive and use your words like an adult…"

With a giggle, Nui suddenly shoved another saltine into Satsuki's mouth and made her recoil and cough. "Use my words and say I fucking hate you? Then fine." Nui spoke merrily while still masquerading a jovial smile. She reached up and grabbed a fistful of Satsuki's hair and pulled aggressively downwards as she leaned up into Satsuki's face. "I hate every single ounce of the magnificent Satsuki Kiryuin. There, I said it for you. Is that better, your fucking majesty? Did you get what you wanted for the hundred millionth time?" she spoke behind a now sadistic smirk.

"Your jealously…isn't going…to fix anything," Satsuki cringed from Nui's angry grip.

Still baring a childish and joyful persona, Nui yanked Satsuki's hair once more. "Silly Satsu, contrary to popular belief, I'm not stupid," she threw Satsuki's head back and released her hair. "I know jealousy doesn't fix anything, it's been more than ten little years and at least one thing would have been fixed by now if it did."

Satsuki sighed softly through her nose, guilt and pity stirring within in her chest. She couldn't find it in her to be angry with Nui, she remembered a time when Nui and herself when they were small children. How whenever Nui showed any form of sadness or distress, Mother often abused her and told her "Smile more, Nui." Nui learned to conceal and hide any emotions that weren't happy and joyful from Ragyo, the only major emotions Ragyo didn't punish her for were joy and anger. The frustration of constantly doing this added with jealously, Nui showed her hurt and anger with a smile like she was taught.

"Nui," Satsuki began, "Mother has tr-"

"Shh, shh, shh!" Nui playfully placed her index finger over Satsuki's lips. "I don't want to hear any of those wordy, charismatic speeches of yours, m'kay? So just shush and drink your water." Nui held up the bottle of water and its staw to Satsuki's mouth. Satsuki didn't protest and tried to hide her eagerness as she closed her mouth around the straw and began to drink. It soothed her burning and raw throat with each swallow and repeatedly gulped it down until the bottle was empty and she released the straw.

"Oh! Also," Nui raised her finger to her mouth and barred her teeth. Opening her jaws, she slid her fangs into the sides of her finger, slowly ripping the skin open by gliding her teeth upwards to her fingertip. Leaving two small trails of blood that slowly ran to her palm, Nui raised her hand to Satsuki's mouth and pointed. "I don't know how you manage to go a day without drinking any blood, let alone a full week, so drink up!"

The enticing aroma seized Satsuki's senses and the sight alone made her mouth water, had her mouth been open, she would have been drooling like a hungry dog. But it was the temptation of the alluring scent right before her nose that made her instinctively nearly clamp her jaws around Nui's finger.

"Ouch, Satsu, easy," Nui chuckled playfully. She felt Satsuki's warm, wet tongue leisurely sliding along her finger. It was quite the sight, Nui couldn't help but admire it and enjoy the sensation of Satsuki's soft tongue as a light blush formed upon her cheeks.

It wasn't much, but Satsuki eagerly drank what little blood that came from the wound. The sweet and sour taste of vampire blood danced along her tongue each time she grazed her tongue through the cut. Nui's blood was warm and smooth, but it also had another unique taste to it as well. Satsuki couldn't put her finger on the very soft flavor, but it reminded her of freshness, cleanliness. It tasted pure. It simply made human blood taste almost dirty and polluted in comparison.

'It's the life fibers, perhaps…' Satsuki thought.

"Alrighty, that's enough for now!" Nui pulled her finger free from Satsuki's hungry mouth as the small wounds began to heal within a couple of seconds. "You want more saltines?"

"Yo, Nuu," Ryuko's voice entered the room as she walked down the path.

"Hi, my Ryu!" Nui called over her shoulder.

"Sup, Love?" Ryuko stepped to Nui's side pecked her cheek with a kiss. "Mind if I take over for a bit? Me and her haven't had a good chat in a while."

"Not at all, not at all," Nui cheered as she happily handed the bag and the cage key to Ryuko. "She's all yours! Just remember to lock her up again when you're done, m'kay?"

"Gotcha," Ryuko replied. Nui exited and left the two long lost sisters alone. "So, Satsuki," Ryuko began with a clear bitterness in her tone, "how's Ma been treating ya?"

Satsuki remained quiet, beginning to reminisce over the memory of when Ryuko was revealed to be her sister. Even now, she was still awestruck by that fact. Her baby sister who her mother didn't even bother to name now stood before her so many years later.

"Oi, I'm talking to you!" Ryuko brought a forceful backhand slap to the side of her sister's face and instantly snapped Satsuki from her thoughts. "What?! Am I not good enough to talk to now?! Gonna off my head like you did to Pops?!"

"I…didn't kill…our father, Matoi," Satsuki answered, still feeling the lingering sting on her cheek that was slowly turning a soft red.

"Oh my freaking god, this Matoi garbage is fucking annoying as hell, so shut up about it! And I saw you kill him, right in front of me, you sick bitch! So don't try and act all stupid and innocent or I'll rip your off you fucking jaw and shove it through your eye sockets!" Ryuko shouted with barred her teeth and an animalistic growl rumbling in her throat.

"We…were seperated for so long… Just try…to remember. Your under mind stitching…" Satsuki panted.

"What the hell even is that!? I can't even talk to you witho- ugh! I swear every single time you talk, I want to punch you so hard that you throw up," Ryuko spat. "Oh, and speaking of," she grabbed a handful of saltine crackers and crunched them in her hand before shoving them at Satsuki mouth. "Eat, bitch," Ryuko growled lowly. But Satsuki rejected them and kept her mouth shut while struggling against her sister's hand.

"Aw, c'mon, nee-san. What's the matter? I know you're hungry," Ryuko ridiculed while still trying to force the crumbs passed Satsuki's closed teeth. She walked to her sister's side before she reached up with her free hand and cruely yanked downwards on Satsuki's hair, pulling Satsuki's head back as far as her neck would allow. The crumbs scratching against Satsuki's gums and making them bleed, Ryuko continued to ridicule and mock her. "Stop being such a wuss and just eat it!"

It wasn't until the sound of familiar heel clacks were heard that Ragyo came into view at the room's entrance. "My darling, Ryuko," she cooed as she walked down the pathway. "I know you're upset, but that is no way to treat your sister."

"She deserves way fucking more for what she did to Pa!" Ryuko shouted as she reluctantly released her angry grip and stepped back before aimlessly tossing the crumbs and the bag at Satsuki's feet.

"Now, now, just relax," Ragyo came to Ryuko's side and softly ruffled her daughter's hair and grazed her scalp with her nails. Ryuko practically melted under Ragyo's touch and her anger quickly subsided as she lovingly leaned into Ragyo's gentle hand. "I will take good care of Satsuki, you go run along with Nui."

"Yes, Mama," Ryuko replied, a little disappointed when Ragyo let go of her hair. She turned to go, but not before she stopped and uttered bitterly to her sister "You're gonna rot down here, nee-san, and I'm going to enjoy every second of it."

\-----

Two bitter, cold months had ever so slowly inched forward in the passage of time, and Nonon, after a month of complete and utter stillness, she had finally opened her eyes. She was still quite unresponsive, but her opening her eyes was a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, little had changed for Satsuki who still hung in chains. And despite Nonon's small step towards possible recovery that had given them a smidge of hope for their fellow Elite, the male Elites were drowning in anger and frustration. They hardly slept, were aggravated, and clear and logical thinking was becoming more and more scarce for the three. Violent disputes had become more common between Uzu and Houka, especially when Ira wasn't around to stop it before it started. This was one of those times.

Both were beaten and bruised in multiple places, Uzu was generously given two black eyes while Houka's lip was bruised, bleeding, and purple from Uzu as the fists flew and more attacks were landed.

"She could be dead for all we know! We've been searching for two months and we know fucking nothing!" Houka screamed.

"Shut the hell up!" Uzu shouted and punched Houka to the floor. "Whose fault is that?! What the fuck have you been doing all this time?! Sitting on your ass looking at damn cameras all day, that's what!"

"It's certainly better than going from door to door and just asking a bunch of stupid-ass questions!" Houka stood to his feet and swiftly met his fist with Uzu's nose. "You might as well be walking around blind if you're going to search the stupid way!"

Uzu's nose dripped with blood as he kicked Houka's feet out from under him with an animalistic snarl, he began to shift into a wolf from his rage that he could no longer keep at bay.

"Sanageyama!" Ira stormed into the room and trambled him to the ground. "Stop it! Control yourself!"

"Get the hell off me!" Uzu struggled as his shifting suddenly slowed.

"Only if you don't transform!" Ira responded.

"Geez, fine! Just get off of me, man!" Uzu replied, he sharpened canines disappearing as he stopped his transformation.

Ira did and stood to his feet and allowed Uzu to stand to his. "Inumuta, are you alright?"

Houka shakenly stood up and dusted himself off. "I'll be fine," he said shortly before heading back over to his laptop at the table.

"What the hell was taking you so long to get here, dude?" Uzu asked Ira.

"We really need a different keycard. I've been at the door for about eight minutes trying to get it to open, but you two were too busy shouting to hear me telling you to open the door and stop fighting."

\-----

Night had fallen hours ago and Nui had just finished her work for the night, and this time, she slept in the comfort of Ryuko's room. Almost asleep in Ryuko's warm and gentle embrace, Nui laid quietly in bed. Pressed comfortably into Ryuko's chest and listening to the rhythmic heartbeat that lowly thumped forth from it, Nui found herself slowly drifting into sleep from the soothing sound. But something was nagging at her thoughts, she couldn't help but think there was something she was supposed to do.

'I feel… like I had to do something… today…' Then it suddenly hit her, she sprung forth and startled Ryuko beside her. "I forgot to water Satsuki!"

"Whaaa…?" Ryuko groggily sat up with eyes half shut and unbelievably messy hair. "What…happe…" she trailed off and shut her eyes while still sitting up.

"I need to go give Satsuki water," Nui replied about to get up.

"Hmmmm," Ryuko groaned and leaned on Nui and making her fall backwards on her pillow. "Can… we just sleep some more…? You just barely got here…" She wrapped her leg over Nui's hips and softly bit and tugged at her ear.

"Whoa there, okay!" A chill shot up Nui's spine from the unexpected display of affection and she quickly pulled herself free from Ryuko's grasp. "I'm going to go do the thing now!"

"Fine," Ryuko groaned as she covered herself back up and closed her eyes. "But can we snuggle when you get back? I want to hold you..." she whispered still half asleep.

Nui blushed, admiring how cute and lovey Ryuko was when she was sleepy. "Alrighty, when I get back."

Heading down to the kitchen and picking up an unopened water bottle and a straw from the drawer, she made her way down to see Satsuki.

Upon arrival, her cheery demeanor became absent as she unlocked Satsuki's cage and stepped in. She had grown tired of masquerading in front of Satsuki who quite honestly didn't care otherwise what Nui acted like.

"Hurry up and drink," Nui held the water and straw up to Satsuki's mouth. Satsuki did so and drank eagerly but slowly from the straw.

Satsuki had grown weaker after two months of abusive care. Under Ragyo's instruction, Satsuki has had no food for two full weeks and was surviving purely on water as well as her unbreakable will. Even though she had grown somewhat scrawny, she still could have been in a far worse condition. She was still toned with muscle in her arms and core from doing any exercises that could be done while hanging.

Once she drank all the water from the bottle, she had words that needed to be spoken. "Why do you continue…to fight for Ragyo?"

Nui sighed, not looking forward to the long speech she could see coming. "I don't know…"

"After all the things…she's done to you… She beats you, she violates you, sees you as nothing but a toy. She has turned your life into a living hell… You deserve better…"

Nui looked down and was silent, she couldn't put together an answer yet.

"You were such a sweet child…before Mother started to break your spirit…day after day. You started to change… Even after all these years, she doesn't see your worth, she doesn't care… And yet…you still stay on her side… Why don't you leave?"

"It's not that simple, Satsu, not for me…" Nui replied softly. "She's… I can't just…"

"You can, Nui. You…have the choice…"

"I'm the loyal dog, Satsuki, it's not my job go on my own. The soul reason I was born was to as I'm told. That's my only purpose. If you only had one purpose, wouldn't you want to fulfil it?"

"Wether or not you were born for that reason, born to act the loyal dog or not…" Satsuki panted. "Even loyal dogs have the option to act on their own accord… All you have to do…is make that choice… You always have more than one path ahead of you, you've been walking the path that Ragyo has placed before you all this time... But sometimes, the more frightening path…is the true path that you should be taking… Make your own, don't walk someone else's…"

Nui was silent, Satsuki could tell she was deep in thought. Making her own path? Don't walk someone else's? Nui found this almost ridiculous for someone like herself to even consider. She's been on a leash all her life, become a tamed dog doing what her master told her, obeying the commands spoken to her. She took a brutal road that beat and tore her skin with no remorse, but it was a road that was nonetheless familiar to her, the only one she's known. Despite the sick and twistedness of it all, Nui found a strange sense of security within it. Under Ragyo, she knew her place, her role, her purpose, and she had accepted it long ago. A shadow of uncertainty loomed over a path that has yet to be written, the very idea of leaving the road she has known for so long is what scared her. It was like knowing nothing but desert before being introduced to an ocean, knowing only sand, Nui was afraid to get her feet wet.

"What would you like to do if Ragyo is defeated… If you were free?" Satsuki asked.

It took a minute for Nui to answer, she'd never thought about such a seemingly impossible thing. "I guess… I'd want to not dread coming home for once… To be able to walk through the front door and not want to throw up when Mama's scent gets to my nose," she said with a hint of anger.

Satsuki ever so slightly chuckled. "You too, huh?"

"Yeah, her scent reminds me of a weird air conditioner," Nui chuckled. "And like, candle wax or something."

"Indeed," Satsuki smiled at the first light hearted moment that they've shared in quite some time.

With a quick slash and the clanck of metal meeting metal, Satsuki felt herself fall the ground. Somewhat dazed, Satsuki looked up and found Nui with her purple scissor at hand. She had cut Satsuki's chains.

"Wh- What are you d-"

"I've made up my mind, your little speeches can win anyone over. Now get out of here," Nui spoke as Satsuki weakly staggered to her feet. "I'm not on your side, but want you to win. Tear me and Mama's hearts out, m'kay?"

"Come with me, we have a greater chance of victory with you as an asset," Satsuki somewhat struggled to not fall over, her legs weak and hardly prepared for the task of standing, let alone running.

"Baby steps, Satsu," Nui replied with small smile. "That's enough disobedience for one day, don't ya think? Now shew! Next time we meet, I'll be trying to kill you! And just to give you a bit of a fighting chance, there's another Kamui, a greyish blue one in the lab. Now shew, go on!" Nui waved Satsuki away.

"I don't want to kill you," Satsuki took a few wobbly steps back.

"Not gonna lie, I don't really want to kill you either. But if it comes to that, well, don't hold back!"

Satsuki nodded before attempting to run, but turned before she got far. "Nui?"

"Hmm?" Nui hummed.

"Thank you."

She then proceeded to force her weak legs to break into a run. Free of her chains, she sprinted down the hall and made her way to the small lab with mainly only test tubes and a table. Heading to the room's back closet, she hurriedly opened it. And there it was, an unawakened Kamui. But she didn't have the time to stare and take in the details, she snatched up the Kamui before running out almost just as quickly. Her heart pounding from the sudden exercise after two months of simply hanging as well as the fear of being caught by Ragyo who she currently didn't have the strength to fight. But she managed to escape within a minute, Satsuki was free.

It wasn't until Nui heard Ragyo coming her way that her heart began to pound. Once Ragyo revealed herself at the entrance of the massive room where Satsuki used to be, Nui was too afraid to turn around and face the voice that spoke behind her.

"Nui?" Ragyo uttered. "Where is Satsuki?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, the RyuNui wasn't at all planned when I started writing this story... But eh, deep down, I guess I really wanted Nui to have a soft spot for someone. (Please don't throw rocks at me!)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *slowly slides chapter out and hides behind a tree* Sooooo, finally got this ish out! Devilishly sorry for taking so long, brain was just kinda dead and I just couldn't get anything written for a while. I should be back into the swing of things now though. Anyway, I apologize for any grammar errors that I overlooked and failed to correct. Hope you enjoy!

Nui's heart began to race, she immediately felt remorse for her actions. She tried in vain to keep her hands from shaking as she fiddled her fingers and attempted to think of an answer.

"Surely you didn't just release Satsuki, you're much too loyal to be so disobedient." Ragyo's clacking heels approached for what felt like an eternity and it built up Nui's dread even more with each incoming step.

Nui could practically feel her mother's hot breath on her neck, her brutal and torturous hands smashing her bones. She couldn't speak, and even if she found the courage to, she knew no words would keep the woman from delivering what felt necessary.

"Speak, Nui," Ragyo cooed now directly behind the smaller girl who was too terrified to turn around. "Did you release Satsuki?" she asked.

Nui attempted to speak, but fear had formed a tight knot in her throat and refused to let any words through. Ragyo's powerful presence felt like it was burning into her back. She had begun to sweat and her heartbeat pounded like a relentless drum. She felt like an injured lamb laying helplessly lying tied in front of her predator.

A cold hand was placed on her shoulder and she stiffened up as Ragyo turned her around to face her, pulling her in closely. Nui submitted instantly and looked away, but Ragyo softly tilted Nui's chin up with her index finger and she gazed down at the younger girl with a sadistic hunger in her eyes.

"Answer me," Ragyo seethed with a gentle anger hidden deep within her tone that only Nui had come to recognize.

"I… did, Ragyo-sama… I-I let Satsuki out…" Nui whispered meekly in a clear tone of fear and dread as she forced herself to look up into Ragyo's frightening eyes. The first pair of eyes she saw seventeen years ago at her birth were the very eyes that never failed to make Nui feel like a near defenseless mouse before a viper.

Ragyo reached up and caressed the side of Nui's face, carefully lifting up her purple eyepatch in the process and dropping it to the floor. With her damaged and discolored eye now uncovered, the memory of what had happened to it brought forth a chuckle from Ragyo's throat.

"Truely a vile sight. Do you remember what happened to this eye?" she taunted while using her thumb to gently rub over Nui's closed eyelid.

Nui wanted so desperately to run. To where? She didn't know, she justed wanted to be anywhere on earth but here where she currently stood.   
"I remember…" she softly replied.

"Won't you refresh my memory? How old were you?" Ragyo ran her fingers up Nui's spine and making her arch her back from the chill.

"J-just turned six…" Nui cringed in fear of her mother's roaming hand.

"Ah, yes. You were such an adorable, little thing. And what happened? I wish for details."

"You…" Nui replied softly, replaying the awful scene in her head. "You said it was time for more tests, but I said I didn't want to go anymore and yelled at you and tried to run... Then you brought me back to the lab and… you cut it with one of your swords…"

"And why was that?" Ragyo continued.

"Because… I disobeyed you, you said to stop crying about it and behave…"

"Indeed," Ragyo petted Nui's head softly. "Pain always made you hush that atrociously annoying little mouth of yours. You know, I was considering removing your good eye for being so disobedient this time, but you'd be simply useless if you were blind now, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, Ragyo-sama…" Nui answered desolately. She just wanted this hell to begin so that it would eventually end.

"Thankfully, you heal quickly. Like a resetting puzzle that I enjoy taking apart opposed to putting together." Ragyo purred while she softly rubbed her thumb over Nui's eyelid. "The only way to stop you from healing is if something like the scissor blades were to be used, isn't that right?" She suddenly dug her thumb into Nui's eye and mercilessly gouged it out, and a pool of thick, soupy blood quickly forming in Nui's eye socket.

Not wanting to get any extra punishment for being loud, Nui whined and whimpered as quietly as she could. But even then, her pain was clear and audible as she cringed before her mistress. Tightening her fists as a way to cope as she felt her warm blood leak from the wound and run down her cheek.

Roughly grabbing Nui's chin, Ragyo slowly slid her thumb into Nui's mouth before suddenly diving the nail into the soft, sensitive flesh underneath the tongue while also hooking her fingernails into her the meat under her jaw. Nui cringed, feeling like a fish caught on a hook, but she kept very silent like she had been taught.

"You are mine, Nui Harime," Ragyo leaned down into Nui's face, her usual smirk was completely absent, her tone grim and threatening. "You are my obedient pawn, my faithful pet. You were born to do as you are told!"

Nui hardly saw Ragyo's hand until it was too late. The sound of her ribs snapping and blood splattering to the floor echoed throughout the giant room. Nui felt a painful collapse within her chest as a pained and choked yelp fled her throat. Gazing down, she saw Ragyo's fist through the side of her rib cage. The ribs in the path of the impact were completely broken off and shattered, her lung was no exception and had easily ruptured beneath Ragyo's might. Watching the young lady's blood gush down and seap into her pink dress, Ragyo pitilessly slid her fingers into Nui's bleeding flesh and began to compress whatever slippery meat and pieces of bone that she could grasp in her palm.

The older woman merely watched with an empty but condescending gaze as her creation squirmed and writhed in pain before her with heavily strained breathes and gasps for air. Ragyo's smile was completely gone, but she didn't look angry either, if anything, she simply looked annoyed.

"You've become quite the thorn in my side as of late," Ragyo watched as Nui's wound began to heal itself around her hand that remained in her ribs. "After all these years, you should know I do not tolerate disobedience." She suddenly ripped her hand free from Nui's healing flesh and watched as Nui tried with every ounce of her willpower not to scream. Ragyo's hand coated in warm and sticky blood, she held in her hand a few loose, hanging shreds of meat and bone that she simply tossed to the side. She viciously grabbed Nui's jaw and pulled her closely.

"You have one purpose," Ragyo seethed, "you are expected to do it well. You are not a person, you are merely a thing. You are not your own, you never were, and you never will be. I made you, Nui, you are my property. Is your brain so dull that you've forgotten that?"

"I… I h-haven't forgotten, Ragyo-sama…" Nui rasped weakly to her mistress.

"You submitted yourself to me the very moment I brought you into being, but I'm having trouble believing you remember your place." Pushing Nui's head back which lead her to fall to the ground, Ragyo slammed the heel of her shoe into Nui's abdomen. The wind was knocked out of her and her diaphragm tightened up immediately from the shock and refused to let her take a single breath for a few moments. And Ragyo simply watched as her creation coughed and choked on the blood that had erupted forth from her mouth.

"Understand that you are but a drop of water within my ocean, a filthy rat before a lion, a wingless dove living amongst fangs. You do not belong, I am the soul reason you are here. And yet, you have the audacity to defy me? It's almost humorous how greatly mistaken you are. You have absolutely no right to act on your own and defy me. Make one more rash decision and your little Ryuko while be on the receiving end of your punishment. Do I make myself clear?" Ragyo stepped forward and pressed the heel of her shoe into Nui's neck.

With Ragyo's foot pressing into her neck and her organs still unhealed and bleeding from within, Nui struggled to breathe and found it near impossible to open her throat without blood attempting to run back down it. The need to cough up the blood and simply breathe made her squirm as she closed her eyes to keep her tears at bay. But she did not fight back, she merely held on to Ragyo's ankle as a pitiful act of mercy. How could she fight back when she felt like the same powerless child that she was from all those years ago?

She was told by Rei that her worth could not be bought, for the price was too high, but Ragyo told her otherwise. That she was merely a thing, lesser than an animal, not worth the dust beneath her feet. She couldn't help but wonder who was right.

Nui answered Ragyo's previous question with a frantic nod, eager to quench her mother's thirst for the act of sadistic dominance so that this could be over.

"Good pet," Ragyo slowly pressed her heel into Nui's neck with remorseless force, adding more and more pressure until there was a feeling of rupture from within Nui's neck and her trachea collapsed beneath the weight. Nui's airway had ruptured as she cringed and desperately attempted to gasp for the oxygen that she could no longer attain.

Though her eyes were shut, a tear fled her eye and ran down to her ear. With Nui knowing that Satsuki wasn't being particularly fond of her, knowing Ryuko's love had strings attached, and doubting Rei's affection to be to be genuine at times, Nui felt the sharp pain of loneliness in her heart. But just once, even for a moment, the thing she wanted most , she just wanted her mother to love her. A wish that Ragyo will never grant.

"Surely you're not crying, my dear," Ragyo raised a brow.

Nui quickly shook her head side to side, not wanting anymore of her mother's wrath.

"Where's that adorable little smile of yours, hm?" Ragyo toyed.

Despite still being unable to breathe as thick and soupy blood pooled within her crushed trachea, Nui did just like she was taught since she was young and gave a her mother a soft smile as another tear ran down from her eye.

"Good," Ragyo's sickening smirk finally returned upon seeing Nui's face slowly begin to turn purple from asphyxiation. It wasn't until Nui's vision began forming multiple black spots and she had come close to fainting that her wounds finally began to heal. Quickly sitting up and turning to her side, she hungrily gasped in the air she desperately needed, but she was met with a relentless cough as she choked on the blood that had collected in her throat and could only watch it spew to the floor at Ragyo's feet.

"Now," Ragyo began heading back down the walkway, "go clean yourself up. Wake Ryuko and bring her to me, the time has come for her to finally be introduced to a Kamui."

It wasn't until Ragyo had gone that Nui dared to begin picking herself up. The wounds of her chest, neck, and eye had healed and were as good as they were before. Her favorite pink dress stained red, she hobbled to her feet and used the back of her hand to wipe away the blood that had streamed down the side of her face. Closing her eyes, she softly sighed in and out through her nose. The scent of her own blood was unavoidable as she did so, it coated the innards of her nasal cavity, but she has smelled it so often throughout her years that it's vampiric scent was no longer heavily enticing.

Raising her hands near her face, she placed an empty gaze at her palms. Although there was genuinely nothing wrong with them, Nui found herself disgusted by them. She hated them. But not only that. She hated the way she talked, the way she sounded, her own laugh. She hated her dark blue eye, her discolored and grey eye, she wanted to gouge them out herself for them being so what she thought to be vile. She wanted to snap her own nimble fingers simply because they were hers, simply because they belonged to Nui Harime. All because she had been taught that Nui Harime was merely a useful science project that deserved nothing better than a beating, nothing more. If her own mother hated so many things about her, then there clearly weren't any reasons to like herself. Or at least, that's what she thought.

Learning to hate her own existance, she's looked forward to her death, wether it be brought upon her by Ragyo, by Saysuki in the final battle, or by bursting her own heart in the palm of her own hand. But now she had someone she cared for, someone who was the soul reason why Nui was still alive. She was why Nui was denying herself the freedom that was death. And Nui hated it.

'Love does make you weak,' Nui thought. 'It can make you do things, can stop you from doing things. If that's not weakness, then I don't know what is. That would explain so many things with Mama, she would be weakened by it, she'd have things to protect if she loved. Whatever she loved would become her weakness…' A small smile came to Nui's face, then a soft chuckle. "Damn you, Ryuko…"

\-----

"Ohmuhfuckinnahsatsukeh!" Houka bursted through the bathroom door with his pants around his ankles.

"Dude, pull your pants up," Uzu groaned while lying stretched out on his back in defeat on the floor.

"Satsuki's free!" Houka proclaimed while staring at his phone and not bothering to pull his pants up just yet.

Sitting on the edge of the bed and eating a bowl of cornflakes, Ira abruptly spit out a mouthful of cereal all over the floor. "What!?" he yelled with a cornflake sitting idle on his chin.

"Get in the car!" Houka pulled his pants up. "Get in the car, get in the car, get in the car!" he repeated as he opened the door and ran out into the hall. The other two didn't hesitate and quickly ran after him.

Racing down the fleet of stairs because they didn't want to wait for the elevator, they ran through the hotel lobby and out into the parking lot blanketed by a cloudy night.

"There's no way in hell you're driving!" Uzu yelled to Houka as the sped to their car.

"Fine, fine. I can't believe I'm saying this," Houka proclaimed upon arrival at the car. "Gamagoori?"

"Hm?" he asked.

"You're driving."

"Got it!" Ira's brows furrowed as he scrunched his way into the front seat.

"Oh my god…" Uzu groaned to himself and took his seat in the back while also grabbing the middle seatbelt and tying it around his waist multiple times before knotting it.

Houka quickly dived into the seat beside Ira, but the moment he shut the door, Ira slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the car shot forward and ran over the parking stump.

"Wait!" Houka screamed, "let me put my seatbelt on! Check you mirrors!"

Hunched over the steering wheel as the car zoomed about, Ira was fixated on what was supposed to be the road, but was actually a construction site. And Ira drove like a madman stirring up dust and dirt, avoiding the construction equipment while somehow managing to not wreck the vehicle.

"Do you even know where you're going?!" Uzu screamed from the backseat.

"Actually, no!" Ira suddenly slammed his foot on the brakes and the car skidded forward for a few very long miles and they ended up in a fast food parking lot.

Still a little stunned, Houka shakily raised his phone and observed his screen before pressing his finger to it a couple of times. "Here's the address."

Ira leaned to his side to squinted his gaze at the screen. "Got it!" He slammed on the gas pedal once again and the car practically launched itself forward with Uzu's high pitched screaming coming from the backseat.

\-----

With the dormant Kamui still in her grasp, Satsuki had only been running for a few minutes, but her aching legs begged for her to stop. However, her will and determination to not be captured twice allowed her to press forward into the freezing, cold night. She didn't want to think about what her mother would do to her if she was caught again, and she tried to think even less of what Nui's punishment was for letting her out, so she continued to run nude in fear of slowing down if she the time to put the Kamui on.

Running just to the side in the grass near the sidewalk to avoid slipping on the wet and icey pavement, she kept a steady but quick pace as she made her plan to return to the hotel where she hoped her Elites still remained. The air was cold and brisk, it was refreshing and was making her freedom sweeter, she had grown so tired of the stale air that had loomed within her cage. But her skin had formed goosebumps from the freezing wind rushing against it, however, she was thankful that her running was gradually warming her from within.

Upon coming near the end of the massive neighborhood, there was a small hill that offered a decent view beyond its entrance. The many streets accompanied by multiple stores and shops. She was about to embark into the city sidewalks when she heard squealing tires and high pitched screaming rapidly approaching from behind her along the road.

"No, wait! She's right there, you idi-" Houka's voice hastily shouted from the speeding vehicle that suddenly zoomed passed Satsuki and into the busy streets in front of her.

A faint smile formed upon Satsuki's face immediately recognizing the speeding car that pulled an impressively sharp u-turn in the middle of the intersection and began heading back her way. Ira hit the brakes and made the car skid right next to the sidewalk where Satsuki stood.

Opening the car door to find Uzu gritting his teeth and grasping his locked seatbelt.

"Satsuki-sama!" the trio let out a triumphant cry in relief that their desperate search was finally over.

"Thank you for coming for me," Satsuki took her seat next to Uzu in the backseat where she then began to put on the dormant Kamui. It too was rather cold, but it offered a small amount of heat once out of the freezing breeze.

"Where to?" Ira asked.

"Have you remained in the same hotel in my absence?" Satsuki answered with a question.

"Yes, Satsuki-sama," he replied.

"I'm fairly certain Ragyo doesn't know of that, so let's return there before she sends Matoi or Harime after me."

"Right," Ira nodded before slamming on the gas pedal and the car launched in reverse. Despite driving like an absolute speeding lunatic with her in the vehicle, getting Satsuki to safety was Ira's number one priority as he eagerly made his own way to their hotel in under five minutes.

In the parking lot, Uzu opened his door and proceeded to groan his way out of the car. "Ehhhh… Dude, just… why…?"

"Why what?" Ira stood from his seat and shut his door and ready to lock the car with the keys once everyone's door was open.

"Why do you drive like roadrunner on bath salts?" Uzu staggered to his feet and shut his door.

"I have not harmed anyone or crashed into any other vehicle, I simply drive with purpose. Would you rather have Inumuta drive?" Ira asked while Satsuki casually stepped out of the car, not at all phased by his lunatic driving.

"Hell no, he's too safe," Uzu stretched as he and his colleagues began walking to the front door once Ira clicked the lock button on his keys.

"There's no such thing as too safe," Houka pointed.

"Dude, you get tickets for going like twelve miles an hour on the freeway."

"That's only been a few times," Houka replied.

The three bickered about their driving tendencies as they followed Satsuki into the hotel. But she didn't mind their mini squabbles, she'd greatly missed her Elites and even their harmless arguments. The only thing missing to make the bickering complete was Nonon's snarky comments, the absense of her voice in the Elites' conversation made Satsuki's heart sink. A gentle rain had begun to fall as the drops softly plopped to the tops of their heads before they made their way into the entrance of the building.

"How is Jakuzure?" Satsuki asked as she lead the group through the massive hotel lobby and into the elevator.

The three stopped their playful dispute and quickly became silent. When no one spoke up after a moment of the three just looking back and forth at each other, Satsuki decided she had to address it directly.

"Gamagoori?" she prodded.

"She has made a small improvement," Ira replied when the elevator doors opened and they all stepped inside. Pressing the correct button to their floor and the doors closed, he began again. "She's opened her eyes a few times which her doctor says are stepping stones to possible recovery considering she's been completely unmoving for the past couple of months. Unfortunately, she's still very ill. She was put on a ventilator a while ago to help with her breathing because she was struggling on her own and she's still been having other problems that they can't seem to keep at bay."

Satsuki listened carefully, analyzing the words spoken and seeing if Ira was trying to withhold any information. She was still relieved to hear Nonon was on a possible road to recovery, but she felt there was something else she wasn't being told. "Go on," she lead them down the hall once the elevator doors had opened at their correct floor.

"Her arm…" Uzu spoke up for Ira who he could tell was slightly struggling to break the news to their leader. "It's uh… Well, in a weird science way, the chemicals and stuff in her arm have kind of frozen it or something which is why it hasn't been decaying. So that's good, but…"

Houka decided he would attempt to simplify what he had heard from Nonon's doctor. "The strange mix of substances and venoms have interacted with each other to, in a sense, put the metabolism of her arm in a state of sleep. So no decay of the tissue has yet to take place and the doctor has no fear of an infection occuring because of this. In addition, her arteries remain intact, so the blood cells of her arm continue to be oxygenated. So that's the good news. However, despite all of that, it's… the nerve damage that they fear can't be fixed..."

Ira decided it was time he spoke up again. "It was a lot to take in and I'm afraid I don't remember the exact details of what's wrong with them, but your mother apparently did something very specific to the nerves in order to make them close to unrepairable… And they fear that its metabolism will eventually start up again and allow her arm to decay and cause an infection. They are also almost certain that her arm is the a large source of why she's been so ill. Since her arm seems to be holding much of the venoms, the arteries of her arm have most likely been circulating the venoms and chemicals to other parts of her body. So in order to stop the spreading, they've been… considering amputation…"

Satsuki stopped. "Amputation?" she asked to make sure she had heard correctly.

"Yes…" Ira answered softly.

Satsuki quietly sighed before she continued leading them to the room. 'My failure is causing so much pain…'

Upon arrival the their door, Ira used his keycard and uponed the door and the group followed Satsuki into their rather messy room littered with junk food wrappers, empty cereal boxes, plastic bags, and also the mouthful of milk and cornflakes that Ira had spit in front of the bed.

"Sorry about the mess," Ira bowed in apology, "but in your absence, they took back the keycard to your room. So you can use this room if you want while we go get you another card."

"That's alright, that can wait for now." Satsuki took a seat at the small table near the window. "For the moment, I do wish for some company if you three don't mind."

"Certainly," Ira replied with bow of his head.

The males didn't at all mind in the slightest, they were in fact struggling to keep giant smiles off of their faces from finally having her back safe and sound. They had left the t.v. on before they had left, so they settled down on the beds and absent mindedly watched a game show, secretly soaking in Satsuki's long missed and powerful presence.

Crossing her legs, Satsuki closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the chair, soaking in the rather bittersweetness of her freedom. She was glad to not be hanging and holding up all of her weight up anymore, happy to finally not hear the deafening silence of loneliness as she swayed in her chains while waiting for Nui to give her food and water. No longer had to wait for her vile mother to come toy with her. But now that she was free, she came to realize that those two months of captivity were far more simple than life outside her cage. There had been an odd sense of bitter contentment in not having any other choice but to be still and let whatever happened to happen. She now had important responsibilities again. Going from two months of doing next to nothing, to being free and trying to prosper humanity by killing her mother and maybe even her little sister. Out here, she had to face the death of others, she had to face Nonon's comatose state in person, out here, she had to fight. But despite this, it also felt natural having such heavy weights on her shouldeds, she has always been fighting since she was a child. Doing anything else would seem almost out of character. What would her life be like if she wins, when this battle she's been in for so long is finally over?

"Do you wish for something to eat, Satsuki-sama?" Houka asked which brought Satsuki out of the light doze that she was slipping into.

"Yes, please," she answered softly.

"Have anything in mind?" Houka asked.

"No, surprise me," Satsuki replied softly. She closed her eyes once again to soak in the company of the Elites as Houka reached for the phone that sat on the bedside table and picked up the room service menu. Satsuki was indeed hungry, and she was also freed before Nui could give her any blood, so the dry and nagging thirst for it was already nipping at the back of her throat. But something else she longed for was some hot tea. Then it dawned on her. "Where is Soroi?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," Uzu jumped up, "Him and Iori had made it back to a separate hotel shortly after you left for your mother's. But they've recently started hiding out with some wackos that they met that call themselves Nudist Beach. They're a rebel group that know all about the life fibers and Revocs and want to help take 'em down."

Nudist Beach? Satsuki raised a brow at such a ridiculous name, but she was relieved to know that Iori and Soroi were safe.

"And speaking of," Uzu spoke up again, "Inumuta said that Iori had finally got back both pieces of Bakuzan from the rubble of the school. We told him that we'll be dealing with Matoi, so he's been doing some work on it to make it more effective on a werewolf by coating the sides on both blades with silver."

"I see," Satsuki replied attempting not to sound too bitter, but she was not looking forward to moment that she may have to plunge Bakuzan right through her sister's chest and watch her die for what felt like a second time. The very thought of it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Alright," Houka hung up the phone, "Spaghetti is on its way, if that's alright."

"It's fine, thank you," Satsuki replied.

After Uzu commented to Satsuki that the food of this hotel was embarrassingly far from high quality, it took around seven minutes for room service to arrive and deliver Satsuki's meal. The Elites could have sworn that at least most of the meals served here were frozen, store bought and microwaveables that the kitchen staff simply heated up before they placed the meal on a plate or into a bowl. And that's what they got this time. The meal wasn't exactly distasteful, but Satsuki most definitely had to lower her standards in order to completely enjoy it.

When she had finished her quite bland but filling food, Satsuki had made up her mind that she'd go and see this "Nudist Beach" group for herself, as well as to retrieve the improved Bakuzan in order to efficiently battle her sister.

"Take me to to this rebel group," Satsuki instructed and the others turned their attention to her, "I must obtain Bakuzan as quickly as possible."

"Yes, Ma'am!" the three hopped up immediately.

Upon observing that Satsuki still was completely barefoot, Uzu suddenly remembered something. "Oh! And before we go!" Uzu he headed over to the small closet near the door and leaned down to pick up a plastic bag, pulling free a pair of leather boots. "A gift from Nudist Beach in case you feel like joining. Mikisugi's words, not mine."

Greatful to have footwear again, Satsuki took the boots and slid them over her feet. "Thank you," she said lastly before leading the three out to the parking lot.

"I'm driving this time," Uzu instructed and placed himself at the driver's seat, and Ira, who took the seat beside him, handed him the keys without protest. Once Satsuki and Houka had taken their seats in the back, Uzu started up the vehicle and the group headed off.

"Where is this… nudist group located?" Satsuki asked while looking out her window.

"They're hiding out underground in Osaka," Houka answered as he adjusted his glasses.

"Why on earth do you drive so slow?" Ira asked Uzu as he held his arms crossed and tapping foot impatiently.

"I'm going the damned speed limit!" Uzu bit back in annoyance, "sorry if that's a foreign consept to you!"

"You're driving like a one-legged dog that's being held down with three ton bricks while it's trying to go up a sand dune!" Ira shouted and rose a fist.

"That's Inumuta! We'd still be in yesterday if he was driving!"

"Leave me out of this for once," Houka commented while gazing at the screen of his phone.

"Quiet back there!" both Ira and Uzu barked behind them to their colleague, making the car swerve slightly before they went back to bickering.

A small grin formed upon Satsuki's face as the harmless dispute continued around her. Despite there indeed being a limit of how much bickering she'd tolerate before she'd demand it to stop, this time she found it refreshing.

Shortly after arriving in Osaka, Uzu proceeded to speed up and drive off into a lake. In this lake that engulfed their car as they sank, an underwater cave could be seen in the depths. As the vehicle drove toward the mouth of the cave, they soon found traction on a metal arch that lead up into an underground cavern beneath the city. Entering the pocket, they parked and exited their car. Ira lead them to a very large area that quite literally held a nudist beach with many tents and bipedal machinery laying about the campus. The rebel group had many people that walked around the area almost completely naked. Most of them only wearing a black belt and a chest harness of the same color.

"Nudist Beach, Satsuki-sama," Ira introduced as he stood aside to allow Satsuki in front.

"Interesting," Satsuki rose a brow from not actually expecting it to be a literal nudist beach.

"The group's leader will probably like to see you," Houka stated.

"Where are they? And where is Iori and Soroi?" Satsuki asked.

"Down there, that dude with blue hair," Uzu pointed to a distant figure in one of the tents. "And Iori and Soroi should be in that tent over there," he pointed a liitle bit aways from the first tent.

Heading down the sandy beach and too the tent that Uzu pointed to, Satsuki approached the leader of Nudist Beach. And upon her arrival, he overexaggeratedly threw his head back and sweeped his fingers through his hair. "Pleased to meet you, Satsuki-sama," he said with a charming grin. "I…" his shirt seemed to slowly come undone on its own as he spoke, "am Mikisugi Aikuro… The Splendid Naked Officer…" He outstretched his arms as his shirt came completely come undone and fully exposed his chest and abs, "How may I assist you…?" his nipples and crotch area began to glow, giving off a bright pink and purple shine.

Ira's eyelid twitched at such nonsense, "Did you really put your clothes back on just so you could strip them back off again…?"

"I see you have a Kamui in your possession," Aikuro ignored Ira's grumbling, "has it been awakened yet?"

"No," Satsuki answered.

"Do you have an affective way of allowing it drink your blood? If you do not, I believe I have a little something that should do the trick." Turning around to the set of cases behind him, Aikuro opened the the case at the top of the stack and pulled free what he was looking for. Turning back around to face the others, he held up a red glove. This fingerless glove had visible veins that lead up to four metal studs at its knuckles, and a metal pin sticking out of the wrist. "This should make transferring your blood to the Kamui easier," Aikuro stepped forward and held out the glove for Satsuki to take, "all you've got to do is pull the pin."

"Thank you," Satsuki allowed Aikuro to place the glove into the palm of her hand. Sliding her fingers into it and putting on, she clenched her hand into a fist a couple of times to get a feel of the glove. "Step back," she ordered, expecting this Kamui to act no different than Junketsu when it had first tasted her blood.

The Elites did so and took a few steps back, Aikuro too got out of the way and walked over to stand at the Elites' side. However, Aikuro's right hand man, Kinagase Tsumugu, who had been watching the group from a distance, decided he'd in fact move closer and stand at the side of Aikuro.

"I'll blast that thing to hell and back if I don't like what I see," Tsumugu threatened as he grabbed his sewing machine gun from his belt and pointed it at Satsuki's back.

"Like hell you will!" Ira shouted as he stepped in front of Tsumugu, crossing his arms and standing boldly as he blocked Tsumugu's aim. "You dare aim a weapon at Satsuki-sama!"

"Damn right, I do. And I'll shoot you too and not loose a single second of sleep over it if you don't get out of my way," Tsumugu growled.

"Why you little-"

"Tsumugu, relax, this is Kiryuin Satsuki we're talking about here," Aikuro patted his companion on the shoulder.

"It's alright," Satsuki stated. "If it brings him security, then by all means, allow him to point weapons at me, he won't be needing them for this anyway."

"Yes, Satsuki-sama," Ira moved back to his original place without another word.

Remembering how much Junketsu fought her the first time it had to be worn, Satsuki took a deep breath before proceeding to raise her fist and pull the pin free. Her blood began to spread throughout the Kamui, feeding the life fibers and waking them from sleep.

"More… Give me more!" A deep male's voice came from the Kamui in a very frantic tone.

Eager for more of Satsuki's marvelous blood, the sailor uniform suddenly clung to Satsuki's skin and began transform into its fighting form as it fueled itself. Satsuki, who had been expecting much more from the living clothing, was somewhat let down by his unaggressive demeanor. It was was still eager for blood, but she didn't feel a sharp and bitter rush of pain while the uniform shifted its shape around her body, there was no feeling of him trying to force his way into her mind. When its transformation was complete and Satsuki stood within a Kamui that was ready for a fight, and as expected, it was extremely revealing to limit the contact of its life fibers with bare skin. However, Satsuki did not care in the slightest that her breasts were mostly exposed, she didn't care that someone can easily see up her very short skirt. No, Satsuki had no shame, and this made the Kamui especially powerful.

Taking note of how much calmer this uniform was as opposed to Junketsu, Satsuki decided she would address this to understand his temperament. "You are calm, Kamui," Satsuki spoke as she observed her new attire. "Why is that?"

"Kamui?" the uniform asked as he gazed at her with his one good eye.

"You don't know what you are? Have you no memory?"

"No," the Kamui replied in a gentle tone. "Well, actually, I do remember something. Or someone, rather. The scientist who created me, or at least I believe he did."

'Father…' Satsuki thought.

"But I remember nothing other than him," the uniform's deep voice was still so calm and gentle, but not to the point of it being off putting or creepy. "But who are you? Where am I?"

"I am Kiryuin Satsuki, one of two daughters that belonged to your creator. And this is a group known as Nudist Beach," Satsuki stated boldly, but still wasn't used to saying such a ridiculous name.

Uzu leaned over to Houka and very quietly whispered, "Uhh… Why is she talking to herself out loud?"

"The Kamui more than likely has a voice that only the wearer can hear," Houka replied while ravenously typing in the Kamui's data into his phone.

"Oh…" Uzu silently mouthed.

"Hmph…" Tsumugu growled upon realizing the danger had at least lessened and lowered his weapons, he walked away and left the little group to their own devices.

"Why am I here?" the uniform asked his wearer. "Wait… You said one of two daughters? I could have sworn that… And you're blood is…"

"Speak. What are you talking about?" Satsuki ordered rather coldly as she turned around and began to walk off in the direction of Iori's tent, completely ignoring all of the lustful gazes at her gorgeous body as she walked with purpose as her Elites followed close behind.

"My memory is very foggy, Kiryuin Satsuki, but I remember hearing two voices. That of my creator, and that of a young women, I would guess around your age. But it was not your voice, nor is your blood familiar. The faint taste of someone else's blood runs through me, I think the owner of this faint taste is the one I was made for."

"I was not there," Satsuki began, "but I am assuming that who you are referring to is my sister, our father must have made you specifically for her."

"Who is your sister?" the Kamui asked.

"For now… she is your enemy, along with Kiryuin Ragyo, our mother. Now that's enough speaking, hush," Satsuki spoke harshly. Heading to Iori's tent towards the end of the area, Satsuki very easily kept a steely appearance despite all the gawking from many of the Nudist Beach members. Upon arrival, she met with both Iori and Soroi who were waiting at the mouth of the tent.

"Pleasure to see you again, Satsuki-sama," Iori bowed.

"Good to see you unharmed, Milady," Soroi bowed as well.

"I'm relieved to see you both are alright," Satsuki replied in slightly softer tone, but Satsuki isn't really the type to show too much sentiment and she wasn't going to focus on this for long, there was a matter at hand. "I have been told that you hold Bakuzan."

"Yes, it's right over here." Iori stepped back into the tent and lead Satsuki to a case sitting on the table. Putting in the proper number code into the case, it clicked and Iori pushed the lid open. Inside sat Bakuzan, now in two blades. "As you may have already been told, I've made the adjustment of adding a thin layer of silver to the sides of both blades. I found that putting silver over the edges cancelled Bakuzan's ability to cut life fibers, so I've only sharpened them and since left the edges uncoated."

Observing the marvelous shine and finely sharpened blades that could now be used for dual combat, Satsuki took them into her hands and gripped the hilts with a firm grip. "It's perfect, these will do nicely."

"Milady," Iori bowed in gratitude. "Also, I would like to point out something, if I may?"

"Go on," Satsuki stated.

"Life fibers are sentient, does this Kamui that you wear speak?"

"It does, as did Junketsu, but not in the same way," Satsuki replied.

"Then might I propose that you attempt to form a bond with this uniform? I speculate that the closer you two are, the stronger you two will grow, feeding off of each other's strength to improve you both. You will need all of the power you can get when the time comes."

"Hmph…" Satsuki huffed at the very idea of forming a bond with clothing. Wether it be sentient or not, the idea was simply preposterous. But still, she did find that this could indeed boost her chances of victory if it meant becoming stronger. "And how might I begin with this task?"

"Well…" Iori rubbed his chin with his finger, "How about giving it a name?"

Satsuki looked out the corner of her eye and placed a gaze at her Kamui's eye. It took her a moment full of somewhat suiting names, but finally, the proper name that she thought fitted the best came to mind. "Senketsu."

"Senketsu…?" the Kamui asked. "Fresh blood?"

"Yes," Satsuki said with an icey tone. "That is your n-" Satsuki stopped herself from adding a harsh command, and instead decided she needed to speak to this new comrade with a bit less bite. "Do you like it?" she asked in a much warmer tone.

"I do! I love it! Thank you, Kiryuin-sama!" Senketsu proclaimed happily as he squeezed himself around Satsuki's body to give her a hug.

Knowing the time to fight was not at this very moment, with the small flashing of pink stars around her body, Satsuki had Senketsu return back into his regular sailor uniform.

"What are we to do now, Satsuki-sama?" Uzu asked outside the tent.

Taking Bakuzan with her, Satsuki headed outside to her Elites. "Take me to see Jakuzure."

"Understood!" the Elites stood at attention as their proud leader walked passed them.

Exiting the base, Satsuki and her Elites got in the car and proceeded to drive back. When they arrived at the hospital, they entered the cooled building filled with that ever present "hospital smell." With a small sigh from knowing of the cold reality that she was about to face, Satsuki decided that she wished to see Nonon alone.

"Where is Jakuzure's room? I would like to see her on my own," Satsuki turned to her Elites.

"It's on the fourth floor," Houka answered as he directed his finger towards a hall that eventually lead to an elevator. "Take a right at the middle of this hallway, then a left and you'll find an elevator, her room number is C18."

"Thank you. Remain here, I shouldn't be long." Satsuki then turned and left, walking with her unrelenting pride towards her destination. She passed a quite a few people as she walked, some people with solemn eyes pooled with tears, some holding balloons, some with eyes filled with joy in knowing their loved one was getting out of the hospital. A playful and giggling young girl ran passed her, followed closely by the child's father that happily scooped the laughing girl into his arms.

"Sister's gonna out of the hospital tomorrow, my little waffle!" the father laughed with a twinkle of joy in his eye as he kissed his daughter's forehead and held her high above his head. "You want to go get her some ice cream for tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" the small child's small and adorable voice proclaimed behind Satsuki as she walked.

Satsuki felt a light sting of bitterness from this clearly joyful act. One of the reason's why she didn't like hospitals, it had such a mix of emotions flowing through it. People come here when sick or broken, but they also come here to welcome a new baby into the world, but people can come here with high hopes that that their loved ones will make it out with merely stitches. They can leave here with heavy hearts and tears streaming down their face because they finally heard the spearing sound of a flat line, or they can leave here with a smile and a healthy loved one that they were told wouldn't make it out. Such a blend of joy and sorrow, stepping into this building sometimes felt like you were taking the gamble, not knowing which one you're going to leave with. The father and daughter's act of joy had made Satsuki feel joy for them, but it was also a mild annoyance from the reminder if how cruel the world was. While someone else was getting out, someone else was still being left here. But she he didn't spend a second more on thinking about it as she went down the clean, white halls and stepped the elevator.

As the doors shut and she pressed the number "4," Satsuki felt a wave of unease wash over her. She was about to face Nonon's state of comatose. After all this time, she was finally going to be able to see her, even if not in the way she wanted. She longed to see her, but at the same time, she didn't, she didn't want to face the monster that was Nonon's condition. Satsuki wasn't going to avoid and deny what has happened, she acknowledged full well that the outcome would be the same whether she accepted it or not, but the anticipation of finally meeting it face to face was giving her butterflies in her stomach.

"Are you ok?" Senketsu gazed up at his wearer as the elevator doors opened up and she stepped out, "I've noticed your heartbeat has become much faster. You're anxious about something?"

"I'm alright, Senketsu," Satsuki answered softly, though the answer was not completely honest.

Though Senketsu was not sure of the reason for Satsuki's heightened state of what seemed like fear, he wasn't going to pry and possibly stress her even more, so he instead became quiet once again.

But as Satsuki walked down the clean hall and began looking down the line of rooms for Nonon's number, something abruptly pierced her with utter dread. A scent. No. Two scents. They didn't belong to humans, they were familiar, and recent.

"No… No, no…" Satsuki forcefully broke into a sprint and ran down the hall with her teeth bared. Running to the proper room that read "C18," she stopped at the doorway and froze. Her eyes widened with terror at the sight of Ryuko and Nui standing beside Nonon's bed. Wearing the untransformed Kamui Junketsu, Ryuko sat idle in the chair and rested her chin on her hand, but her other arm was outstretched holding a red scissor blade over Nonon's neck.

"Yo, nee-san," Ryuko smirked slyly. "Ma's pretty pissed that her bird got out of her cage."

"Ryuko…" Satsuki seethed. "Leave her be or I-"

"You'll what?" Ryuko interrupted while casually picking her ear with her finger. "Slice off my arms? Snap my ribs? Cause that's exactly what I want to do to this tiny runt, and I feel like tearing off your legs to make you watch," she playfully growled with a tilt of her head.

Satsuki's heart was pounding as Ryuko toyed with Nonon's neck by slowly grazing the blade across the soft skin and drawing a very fine line a blood just at its very surface. Satsuki gazed at Nui who stood quietly with the same jovial smile that Satsuki knew all too well was fake. She silently begged Nui with her eyes to help her, and although Nui's smile softened a bit in what Satsuki assumed was pity, Nui did nothing more.

"What good would come to you if you killed her?" Satsuki brought her glare back to Ryuko.

"The sweet and juicey satisfaction of seeing you break from the inside out, I bet seeing you cry would be one hell of an hilarious honor," her sister purred. "But first, let's have some fun and try to recreate what happened when you stabbed us all in the fucking back. It'll be like a game. Let's see, I was a wolf and I had her puny head between my teeth, right? Maybe we should snap your knees backwards or rip your feet off so that all you can do was watch like last time. Let's aim for that, huh, Nuu?"

Nui suddenly lunged forward, her purple scissor blade colliding with the two blades of Bakuzan that Satsuki just barely managed to raise in time to protect herself. Nui's raw strength matched that of someone being fully synchronized with a Kamui and then some, her impact ended up being too much for even Satsuki. Satsuki was thrown backwards into the hall, her back crashing into the wall and sending a sharp, jarring pain through her bones. But recovering quickly, Satsuki immediately lept out of the way of another incoming attack from the giggling girl as her blade slammed into the wall, causing it to crack and crumble.

Satsuki had evaded the attack by leaping to the side, but with Senketsu untransformed, she wasn't quite as quick as Nui. Nui rushed for Satsuki who was still mid-air and landed a generously powerful kick her in the side of her abdomen. The impact propelled Satsuki all the way down the hall, nearly hitting quite a few frightened people that were attempting to flee in a blind panic.

"I've really been itching to tear you into meaty shreds," Ryuko stepped into the hall and watched Satsuki who was picking herself up off the floor and resuming a fighting stance. "I'm gonna enjoy every second of this."

Ryuko rose a hand to her upper arm and pressed down on the three small, blue clasps that allowed Junketsu to drink. Three needles viciously plunged into her skin as Junketsu hungrily drank its wearer's blood, but her blood was different, for she had the blood of a beast. Its taste was very rich, heavy with the tastes of raw meat and copper that made it seem untamed and wild. And yet despite this, it also tasted pure like the freshest and cleanest waters of a spring. It was addictive, it drove the Kamui mad for more and it selfishly drank to fuel itself.

Junketsu's hunger for overpowering its wearer was still ever present in the bloodthirsty Kamui, it did not want to be worn, it wanted to be the one to wear and consume. And Junketsu could feel it, unlike its former wearer Satsuki, Ryuko was not fighting it. No, Ryuko was welcoming the Kamui's raw and feral hunger. With a low growl, Junketsu greedily drank, drank, and drank until it began to change into its battle form.

"More… I need more… I'm so… hungry, Ryuko…"

Ryuko sensed an unfamiliar female's voice. The voice wasn't particularly an audible one, more rather a sensation of words within Ryuko's head, nearly like a thought, but also not quite that either. The words were a feeling, not a sound, but it was still a voice all the same. This voice was generously honeyed and alluring, seductive as it dripped with a calm, smooth, and prideful charisma.

"J-Junketsu…?" Ryuko cringed, suddenly feeling a sharp pain in her head.

"Give yourself to me… Become… mine…"

Ryuko was feeling greatly weakened by her Kamui. She could feel the life fibers of the hungry being beginning to heat up around her. It hurt and felt like it was nearly burning her skin, she cringed as she gave Satsuki a toothy grin before falling to her hands and knees, tightening her fists as Junketsu became crazed off her blood. With a ravenous roar, the Kamui suddenly bursted off of Ryuko's body with a bloody explosion that splattered to the walls, and the uniform took the form of a very large and four legged beast as it loomed over Ryuko with its hungry mouth heavily dripping with the very blood that it had consumed. With a crazed snarl, Junketsu lunged forward and enveloped Ryuko into its jaws with a snap of its teeth and an eruption of thick steam completely shrouded over the duo, and Ryuko's vision became blank. Nothing but white and a dull ringing in her ears that silenced everything else except for one single voice.

"Bafken xot, Ryuko…" Junketsu spoke in a very sweet and temptatious tone. "Take my teeth into your flesh… Sa-jerrah xawaklen… Give me your mind, and I will give you my body… and all of the strength and power that comes with it… Give it… to… me…"

Ryuko felt the Kamui taking over her mind, her body. Her bones felt like they were being compressed, her muscles felt painfully stiff and like they were about to twist and cave in on themselves. A bitter and sharp wave of pain rushed into her veins, but only to be enveloped in an electrifying warmth that surged throughout her entire body as Ryuko willingly handed herself over to Junketsu. But this warmth and gentle feeling didn't last, for the vicious Kamui suddenly began to rip, shred, and morph its wearer as it took Ryuko with a sadistic thirst.

The low sound of crunching and shifting bones emanated forth from the white haze, and an agonized scream from Ryuko erupted and pierced the air.

"Ryuko!" Satsuki shouted into the hazey white mist.

As the pained shout progressed, it began changing in tone. Going from a human sounding, pain induced screech, it morphed into a long and bellowing roar of a large animal that echoed throughout the entire building.

When the smoke cleared, Satsuki tightly gripped Bakuzan at the sight of the beast before her. A wolf with lengthy and breathtaking fur the color of the purest of white snow. Her fur was neatly painted with stunning and vibrant blue markings that gave off a vivid glow even under the hospital's strong lighting. She had become a bit too top heavy for her spine too handle and couldn't stand in a bipedal stance for long, so she now relied on her arms to aid her in standing upright. Because of this, her back slopped downward from her shoulders, giving her a noticeable hunch. Like a masked helmet, covering and protecting both Ryuko's head and jaw was a hollowed out, cream colored wolf skull. The back of the skull was open and allowed her proud and pointed ears to sit upright and move freely. The skull mask had fused to Ryuko's face and jaw, and because of this, Satsuki now had to worry about the second set of maws that worked in sync with Ryuko's inner set.

Satsuki forced an icey glare towards the monster that her sister had become, watching and feeling a sense of sore emptiness as she watched the wide eyed beast's body shake and twitch at random. Ryuko profusely drooled both blood and saliva as it dripped passed her teeth and hit to the floor with a soft splat. Crazed and manic, she chuckled and growled lowly at nothing in particular as she gave her neck a pop with a far tilt of her head.

Ryuko no longer seemed to be wearing Junketsu, but the Kamui's presence was unmistakable. Along with the wolf's new colors, Junketsu's two, tall, triangular shoulder pads protruded forth from the skin of Ryuko's shoulders. Going along her back was a bony column that resembled that of a spinal cord, and small, triangular, bone like material protruded forth from her skin at random places. And jutting out of both her sides was a single long, blue life fiber thread that floated and slowly swayed like elegant tendrils.

But looking through the hollow eye sockets of the skull helmet, it was the beast's eyes that Satsuki could hardly gaze away from, for she saw such a beautiful collision of colors. She could see the black gear shapes as well as the blue and silver of Ryuko's eyes. But now these had become accompanied by the strong and vibrant rings of a soft pink, orange, and red of Junketsu's eyes. And lastly, what used to be the whites of her eyes were now a dark grey.

"Ryuko," Satsuki began, "what have you done to yourse-"

Ryuko snarled viciously as she twitched and popped her neck to the side. "Shaa… ill… Junketsu…" the wolf spoke in a language that was not Wolven. 'I… am… Junketsu…'

"Junketsu…" Satsuki hissed before she proceeded to raise her hand and pull free the pin of her red glove. The single needle pierced Satsuki's skin, the offering of blood was met with Senketsu quickly transforming upon his wearer.

"Poor… poor vempiire…" Ryuko chuckled with a toothy smile and licked her pearly white teeth with her slimy black and blue tongue, revealing that she now had four pairs of canines instead of two. "Maqu jiiya, qyak iis xeki-yanm. Your little Ryuko is still here," she chuckled as bloodied drool dripped from her mouth to the floor.

"Hmmm…" Nui hummed as she stepped over to Ryuko. "Ryu-chan?"

"Hm?" Ryuko hummed.

"What language was that just a second ago? It didn't really sound like your regular wolfy-wolf language."

"Xej ilu, because it isn't," Ryuko answered. "A Kamui's true language is from beyond Earth, beyond many skies, hetyoi jal xem..."

Nui tilted her head at said words, noting that the way they were delivered didn't really sound like how Ryuko would have spoken them. "Is that Ryuko or Junketsu talking?" Nui asked.

Ryuko chuckled as she gave her long, white fur a shake. "Both, we're… in perfect sync with each other, her words are my own," she spoke behind a hungry growl. "Now…" She took the red scissor blade in her teeth, "Shall we?"

"We shall, we shall!" Nui giggled and rose the purple scissor blade towards Satsuki.

With the wolf's powerful, condescending presence looming before Satsuki and Senketsu, Ryuko inhaled deeply before she bellowed a long and powerful roar that gave Satsuki and her Kamui goosebumps. Lightly gritting her teeth, Satsuki's heart began to pound at the very thought of killing her little sister, or at least this abomination of what her sister used to be.

"Scared, Satsi? Want me to call Mommy and tell her you're not feeling good?" Ryuko ridiculed. She was being enveloped with the anticipation of making a meal out of this delicious traitor, it made her mouth water as she licked her teeth with her long, slobbery tongue. "Ma would be more than happy to come pick you up and take you home, I won't judge. Although I'm pretty sure she'll give you good spanking for being such a naughty girl and getting out of your cage!" Ryuko spat and cackled to herself.

"Hold your tongue unless you wish for me to remove it," Satsuki warned with a slight hiss in the back of her throat. She pointed the blades of Bakuzan at her enemies and took her fighting stance. "Senketsu?"

"Yes?" the Kamui gazed at his wearer with his good eye.

"Are you ready?"

Senketsu gazed into the hungry eyes of the white wolf, he could sense the pure and condescending strength of the Kamui that glared right back at him with a honeyed and wry smirk. Junketsu's emanating power was like a freezing wind, a sturdy and unrelenting force that chewed like a toxin on bare skin. He too was nervous, but he was prepared to give his all.

"I am," he answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bloody, this chapter gave me such a difficult time lol


End file.
